Summary:
UCLA researchers in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering have developed an acoustic microfluidic platform that offers a cost-effective and practical approach for handling individual cells at the microscale.
Background:
Single-cell manipulation is essential for understanding cellular behavior, disease progression, and therapeutic response. Recent developments in single-cell research have facilitated the emergence of new applications including ex-vivo cell processing, which have revolutionized personal medicine, cellular research, and drug development. While microfluidic platforms enable precise cellular control at the microscale, current platforms are limited by low throughput and reliance on expensive instrumentation. Additionally, advances in genomics and proteomics require large-area manipulation of individual cells at scale while preserving cell viability and proliferation. These limitations in the state of the art highlight the need for a robust microfluidics platform that enables large-scale single-cell trapping and selective release for downstream single-cell analysis.
Innovation:
To address these challenges, researchers at UCLA have developed an acoustic microfluidic platform capable of precise and scalable single-cell manipulation. The device utilizes spherical air cavities to create acoustic potential wells that trap both individual synthetic microparticles and biological cells across a large area (1.5 x 1.5 cm²), accommodating a broad particle size range from 8 to 30µm. Additionally, the integration of a near-infrared laser facilitates high-throughput selective release of ~40 cells per minute while maintaining cell viability and proliferation. While currently demonstrated in a 1.5 x 1.5 cm² surface area, the manipulation area of this device may be scaled to tens or even hundreds of cm², enabling the trapping and release of millions of cells. This invention has a simple fabrication process without the need for photolithography, enabling low-cost development and disposability. This acoustic microfluidic system offers a robust, biocompatible, cost-effective, and scalable solution for single-cell manipulation, serving as a powerful new tool for high-resolution analysis in research and diagnostics.
Potential Applications:
● Single-cell analysis
● Genomics, proteomics
● Cancer research
● Immunology and cell therapy
○ Ex-Vivo cellular processing
○ CAR-T
● Drug discovery and development
○ Drug screening
○ Drug toxicology analysis
Advantages:
● High-throughput
● Large-area single-cell manipulation
● Selective Release
● Individual cell targeting
● Biocompatible
● Scalability
● Versatility
○ Broad size spectrum
● Cost-effective
● Simple fabrication
○ Disposable
Development-To-Date:
This innovation was previously described by UCLA Case No. 2019-852: Mechanisms and Devices Enabling Arbitrarily Shaped, Deep-Subwavelength, Acoustic Patterning. Case No. 2025-047 now enables single cell resolution acoustic patterning not previously described by 2019-852.
Related Papers:
• Zhang, X., Smith, J., Zhou, A. C., Duong, J. T.-T., Qi, T., Chen, S., Lin, Y.-J., Gill, A., Lo, C.-H., Lin, N. Y. C., Wen, J., Lu, Y., & Chiou, P.-Y. (2025). Large-scale acoustic single cell trapping and selective releasing. Lab on a Chip, 25(6), 1537–1551. https://doi.org/10.1039/D4LC00736K
• Tung, K.-W.; Chung, P.-S.; Wu, C.; Man, T.; Tiwari, S.; Wu, B.; Chou, Y. F.; Yang, F.-L.; Chiou, P. Y. Deep, subwavelength acoustic patterning of complex and non-periodic shapes on soft membranes supported by air cavities. Lab Chip 2020, 20, 2870–2879. DOI: 10.1039/C9LC00612E
• Tung, K.-W., Chiou, P.Y.
Field-programmable acoustic array for patterning micro-objects, Applied Physics Letters, 116, 151901, 2020. DOI: 10.1063/5.0003147
• Zhang, X., Sun, R., Lin, Y.-J., Gill, A., Chen, S., Qi, T., Choi, D., Wen, J., Lu, Y., Lin, N. Y.C., Chiou, P.Y. Rapid prototyping of functional acoustic devices using laser manufacturing, Lab on a Chip, 22, 4327–4334, 2022. DOI: 10.1039/d2lc00725h
• US12,280,372B2: Arbitrarily shaped, deep sub-wavelength acoustic manipulation for microparticle and cell patterning
Reference:
UCLA Case No. 2025-047
Lead Inventor:
Pei-Yu “Eric” Chiou