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Manipulation of microparticles using surface

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Korea-Australia Rheology Journal
Vol. 23, No. 4, December 2011 pp. 255-267
DOI: 10.1007/s13367-011-0031-5

Manipulation of microparticles using surface acoustic wave in

microfluidic systems : a brief review
Jeonghun Nam, Hyunjung Lim and Sehyun Shin*
School of Mechanical Engineering, Korea University, Seoul, Korea
(Received October 21, 2011)

Abstract
Manipulation of microparticles, which include engineering particles, droplets and cells, has gained attention
in various research fields that use microfluidic devices, such as biochemical analyses and clinical diagnosis.
Among the microparticle manipulation techniques, microparticle separation has become particularly critical
for continuous flow-based analysis, including biochemical assay and clinical diagnosis. Recently, micro-
particle manipulation techniques using single surface acoustic wave (SAW) or multiple SAWs, namely
standing surface acoustic waves (SSAWs) have gained attention in microfluidics because they are non-inva-
sive, label-free, and easy to integrate into microfluidic circuits. This review paper focuses foremost on the
most recent advances and application of SAW-driven microparticle separation in microfluidics, and presents
analytical models for acoustic separation in microparticle suspension. In addition, recent developments in
SAW-driven microparticle manipulation are categorized according to their applications and discussed.
Keywords : microfluidics, surface acoustic waves (SAW), manipulation, separation, sorting, particles

1. Introduction particles in complex fluids, which contain polymer beads,

Recently, micro total analysis system (micro TAS) and
lab-on-a-chip (LOC) technologies have advanced rapidly.
These techniques offer many advantages, including the
reduction in sample and reagent use, high sensitivity, and
short processing time, compared to conventional tech-
niques. Among the many essential techniques such as sam-
ple preparation (filtration, washing, sorting, separation),
translation (pumping, valving), and sensing/detection, the
manipulation technique of microparticles has become most
important for the micro TAS.
Among the microparticle manipulation techniques, the
separation of microparticles from complex fluids, also
called colloids, has gained much attention in the area of
continuous flow-based biological and chemical analyses
(Bhagat et al., 2010; Cheng et al., 2007; Dittrich et al.,
2006; Gascoyne et al., 2004; Gossett et al., 2010; Jones,
2002; Lenshof and Laurell, 2010; Wu et al., 2008). Blood,
for example, would be the most familar complex fluid,
consisting of poly-dispersed blood cells in plasma. Plate-
lets, circulating tumor cells (CTCs), and nucleated red
blood cells (NRBCs) frequently need to be separated from
a blood sample. In addition to application to a blood sam-
ple, the microfluidic-based separation technology is widely
applied in various industrial applications. The separation of
*Corresponding author: lexerdshin@korea.ac.kr
© 2011 The Korean Society of Rheology and Springer
ceramics, cells, nanoparticles, and droplets, has become a
critical issue in various applications, including industrial
processing (Xia et al., 2002), environmental assessment
(Doucet et al., 2004), biochemical analyses (Dittrich et al.,
2006; Wu et al., 2008), and clinical diagnosis (Cheng et
al., 2007; Gascoyne et al., 2004).
Therefore, the recent advancements of continuous flow-
based microparticle separation techniques are reviewed in
this paper, and the fundamental theory describing the
acoustic forces involved in and the analytical models used
for microparticle separation in suspension are described. In
addition, various applications of microparticle manipula-
tion using single SAW or multiple SAWs are categorized
and discussed.
2. Operating Principles and Methods
Microfluidic-based microparticle separation systems
have been developed by various approaches. The
approaches can be classified as active- or passive- methods
based on the separation priniciple. As listed in Table 1, pas-
sive methods are based on the hydrodynamic force effect
due to channel geometry (Choi et al., 2011; Tan et al.,
2004; Tan et al., 2008; Yang et al., 2009) or flow profile
(Maenaka et al., 2008; Tan and Lee, 2005), whereas active
methods use external forces for separation of microparti-
cles such as optical force (Hung et al., 2010), electokinetic/
dielectric forces (Braschler et al., 2008; Cui et al., 2009;

Korea-Australia Rheology Journal December 2011 Vol. 23, No. 4 255

 Jeonghun Nam, Hyunjung Lim and Sehyun Shin
Fig. 1. Surface acoustic wave microfluidic device. (a) Single sur-
face acoustic wave (SAW) generated by patterned inter-
digitated transducers (IDTs) on a piezoelectric substrate.
The wavelength of SAW is determined by the IDT pitch
design, λ = 2d . (b) Multiple SAWs, which create the
standing surface acoustic wave (SSAW), are actuated by
a pair IDTs on the surface of a piezoelectric substrate. The
superposition of two opposing, identical SAWs results in
the standing surface acoustic wave (SSAW).
Jellema et al., 2009; Kim et al., 2008; Piacentini., 2011),
magnetic force (Berger et al., 2001; Pamme et al., 2006;
Qu et al., 2008), pneumatic force (Lee et al., 2009; Wakui
et al., 2010), and bulk acoustic forces (Adams et al., 2010;
Evander et al., 2007; Laurell et al., 2007; Lenshof et al.,
2009; Nilsson et al., 2004; Petersson et al., 2005; Petersson
et al., 2007; Thevoz et al., 2010). Recently, a compre-
hensive review was done on the most recent developments
in microparticle separation technology in microfluidics
(Bhagat et al., 2010; Gossett et al., 2010; Lenshof and Lau-
rell, 2010).
Although microparticle separation systems in microflu-
idics have advanced in various ways, they can be further
improved to use the physical properties of microparticles,
such as size, density, or deformability. A novel micropar-
ticle separation method based on the intrinsic physical
properties of microparticles, which is able to yield high-
throughput, high-resolution and label-free, is needed espe-
cially for biological and chemical applications.
More recently, a method of microparticle manipulation
using surface acoustic wave (SAW) has been proposed and
this method uses the physical properties of microparticles,
such as size, density, or compressibility. Unlike electrical
(Piacentini, 2011), optical (Hung et al., 2010) or magnetic
methods (Qu et al., 2008), the SAW-based microparticle
manipulation method features non-invasiveness, low
power operation with high energy density, no contamina-
tion, and easy integration into microfluidics by soft lithog-
raphy techniques.
SAW-based manipulation devices are made up of inter-
256
digitated transducers (IDTs) patterned on a piezoelectric
substrate as shown in Fig. 1(a), which contracts and
expands upon application of a RF (Radio Frequency) sig-
nal of AC voltages to the IDTs. Continuous deformations
of the piezoelectric substrate result in surface acoustic
wave (SAW) generation and propagation along the sub-
strate surface. The wavelength of the SAW is determined
by the IDT pitch design, λ = 2d , and the working fre-
quency f of the SAW is determined by the relation,
f = cs ⁄ λ , where cs is the wave propagation speed in the
piezo-electrical substrate ( cs : 3950~4000 m/s for LiNbO3
(lithum-niobate)) (Wong, 2002). When the SAW comes
into contact with a liquid, the acoustic energy diffracts into
the liquid due to the difference between the wave propa-
gation speed in the piezoelectric substrate, cs , and that in
the liquid, c l (~1485 m/s for water), launching the leaky
SAW with decaying amplitude. The refraction angle, which
is referred to as the Rayleigh angle, can be calculated by the
ratio of the sound velocity in the piezoelectric substrate to
the sound velocity in the liquid, θR = sin –1(c1 ⁄ cs) .
Acoustic streaming resulting from the compressibility of
the bulk fluid at the high frequency used for SAW actu-
ation induces the bulk fluid to move. Acoustic streaming of
surface acoustic waves is typically used in microfluidic
mixing (Sritharan et al., 2006; Tseng et al., 2006), pump-
ing (Cecchini et al., 2008; Guttenberg et al., 2004), con-
centration (Li et al., 2007; Li et al., 2008; Raghavan et al.,
2010), microparticle patterning (Smorodin et al., 2005;
Strobl et al., 2004), and microparticle directing (Franke et
al., 2009; Franke et al., 2010).
On the other hand, multiple SAWs, which create a stand-
ing surface acoustic wave (SSAW), can be formed by actu-
ating a pair of interdigitated transducers (IDTs). When AC
signals are applied to a pair of IDTs, two series of surface
acoustic waves from each IDT propagate in opposite direc-
tions to the microchannel. The superposition of two oppos-
ing, identical SAWs give rise to constructive and
destructive interference, which results in a standing surface
acoustic wave (SSAW) with pressure nodes (minimum
pressure amplitude) and anti-pressure nodes (maximum
pressure amplitude), as shown in Fig. 1(b). These pressure
fluctuations result in lateral acoustic radiation forces that
act on the microparticles suspended in a medium, making
them migrate to either the pressure nodes or the anti-pres-
sure nodes, depending on the relative density and com-
pressibility between the microparticles and the medium, as
shown in Fig. 2. Recently, several research groups intro-
duced standing surface acoustic wave (SSAW)-based
microparticle manipulation techniques in microfluidics,
such as microparticle jetting (Tan et al., 2009), micropar-
ticle focusing (Shi et al., 2008b; Shi et al. 2011; Zeng et
al., 2010), microparticle tweezing (Shi et al., 2008a; Shi et
al., 2009a; Wood et al., 2008; Wood et al., 2009), and
microparticle separation (Nam et al. 2011a; Nam et al.
Korea-Australia Rheology Journal
 Manipulation of microparticles using surface acoustic wave in microfluidic systems : a brief review

Fig. 2. Working principle of microparticle migration in SSAW-working area. Constructive and destructive interferences, which result
from the superposition of two opposing SAWs, generate SSAW with pressure nodes (minimum pressure amplitude) and anti-
pressure nodes (maximum pressure amplitude). These pressure fluctuations result in acoustic radiation forces on the micro-
particles in the medium, forcing them to migrate toward either the pressure nodes or the anti-pressure nodes, depending on the
relative density and compressibility between the microparticles and the medium.

Table 1. Methods for the separation of microparticles

Method Name Advantages Disadvantages References

Challenging when
Channel using high concen- Choi et al., 2011, Tan et al., 2004,
High resolution
geometry tration sample Multi- Tan et al., 2008, Yang et al., 2009
steps for high purity
Passive
High flow rate
Easy integration into massive Requiring dilution of Maenaka et al., 2008,
Flow profile
parallel system sample Tan and Lee, 2005
Wide range of flow rate

Few application in
continuous system
Optical High resolution Low efficiency Hung et al., 2010
High-cost laser
equipments required

Braschler et al., 2008, Cui et al.,

Electrokinetic/ Easy integration Difficult in
2009, Jellema et al., 2009, Kim et
dielectic Able to detect biological states fabrication
al., 2008, Piacentini., 2011

High-cost equip-
Pneumatic Non-invasive Lee at al., 2009, Wakui et al., 2010
ments required

Active Adams et al., 2010, Evander et al.,

Bulk Acoustic Non-invasive 2007, Laurell et al., 2007, Lenshof
Wave Non-labeling Expensive materials et al., 2009, Nilsson et al., 2004,
(BAW) Any particles available Petersson et al., 2005, Petersson et
al., 2007, Thevoz et al., 2010

Berger et al., 2001, Pamme et al.,

Magnetic Relatively high recovery ratio Low flow rate
2006, Qu et al., 2008

Non-invasive
Surface Acoustic
Non-labeling Franke et al., 2009, Franke et al.,
Wave Exsitance of force-
Any particles available Flexible func- 2010, Shi et al., 2009b, Nam et al.
(single or less effective area
tion by designing electrode 2011a, Nam et al. 2011b
multiple SAWs)
Easy to integrate with other techniques

Korea-Australia Rheology Journal December 2011 Vol. 23, No. 4 257

 Jeonghun Nam, Hyunjung Lim and Sehyun Shin
2011b; Shi et al. 2009b).
The configuration of IDTs is also regarded as a critical fac-
tor affecting the performance of a single SAW or multiple
SAWs. The electrodes of interdigitated transducers (IDTs)
can be formed in various configurations for specific pur-
poses: (1) parallel IDTs ,which are commonly used (Franke
et al. 2009; Nam et al. 2011a; Nam et al. 2011b; Shi et al.,
2008a; Shi et al., 2008b; Shi et al., 2009a; Shi et al., 2009b,
Shi et al., 2011; Wood et al., 2008; Wood et al., 2009; Zeng
et al., 2010), (2) tapered IDTs (Franke et al., 2010), and (3)
focused IDTs (Tan et al., 2009), which also can be patterned
in a parallel or orthogonal (Shi et al., 2009a; Wood et al.,
2009) arrangement depending on their purpose. For exam-
ple, orthogonally patterned IDTs are favorable for micro-
particle tweezing. Therefore, SAW based techniques can be
a versatile tool for microparticle manipulation in biochem-
ical analyses and clinical diagnosis.
3. Theoretical Analysis
Prior to developing an analytical model for microparticle
movement in a SSAW working area, it is necessary to
define the flow condition and corresponding assumptions
as follows: (1) the microchannel flow is steady, laminar,
and fully developed; (2) the fluids are Newtonian fluid; (3)
the fluids and microparticles have the same density; (4) all
microchannels have the same height; (5) the viscosities of
all the fluids (sample fluid and sheath fluid) are identical;
and (6) the lateral acoustic radiation force is uniform
throughout the test section. In fact, since the typical sample
fluid consists of a very low concentration of microparticles
suspended in the same sheath fluid, the viscosity of micro-
particle suspension is almost the same as that of the sheath
fluid. And, there is no need to consider the effect of vis-
cosity on hydrodynamic focusing in multiple fluid flows.
In microchannels, pressure nodes form in a two-dimen-
sional plane along the axial flow, since the SSAW is per-
pendicular to the axial flow direction. The two-dimensional
particle distribution would be dependent on the aspect ratio
and the channel height of the microchannel, since the
acoustic radiation force propagates from the surface to the
fluid. Therefore, rectangular channels with low aspect
ratios would be more effective for applying SSAWs on
microparticles suspended in fluid.
The behavior of microparticles in a microfluidic channel
in the SSAW working area can be predicted from various
forces, including the acoustic radiant force, viscous drag
force, diffusive force, gravity force, and buoyancy force.
The gravity force and the buoyancy force cancel each
other, because the densities of both particles and the sus-
pending medium are almost balanced. To estimate the dis-
placement of a particle from the hydrodynamically focused
center plane of the microchannel, it is necessary to con-
sider three primary forces: viscous, diffusion, and acoustic
258
radiation forces. Each force has already been well devel-
oped for analytical models in previous researches and their
detailed derivations can be found elsewhere (Bruus, 2008;
Lee et al., 2006; Shi et al., 2009b).
Firstly, it is necessary to estimate the width of the
focused flow due to hydrodynamic focusing with sheath
flows to predict the maximum displacement of a particle
from the center of the microchannel. Without hydrody-
namic focusing, microparticles will be widely dispersed
along the width of the microchannel. Therefore, each
microparticle is affected by the external force field dif-
ferently at different locations along the microchannel
width. Prefocusing the microparticles with a narrow width
before applying external forces may help mitigate this
problem (Adams and Soh, 2010; Franke et al., 2010; Kim
et al., 2008; Lee et al., 2009; Nam et al., 2011a; Nam et al.,
2011b; Pamme et al., 2006; Petersson et al., 2007; Pia-
centini et al., 2011; Shi et al., 2009b; Theovoz et al.,
2010). The width of the focused flow (wf) can be estimated
by the volume flow rates of the inlet channel (Qi) and side
channels (Qs), and by the velocity ratio (γ), which is the
ratio of the average velocities γ = vf ⁄ vo .
w w o Qi
dhydro = -----f = ----------------------------
- (1)
2 2γ ( Qi + 2Qs )
Further, v is the average velocity, and the subscripts of
f, o, i, and s indicate the focused, outlet, inlet, and side
channels, respectively. For flow in flat rectangular channels
of low aspect ratio, the velocity would be uniform in the
lateral direction , described by a parabolic profile across
the channel height, which means that the flow velocity
ratio ã would be about unity. (Stiles et al., 2005) Therefore,
the width of the focused stream wf can be easily predicted
by Eqn. (1).
Secondly, diffusive force also causes the displacement of
a particle, as described by Bruus earlier (Bruus, 2008).
ddiffuse = Dtw (2)
While the microparticles experience acoustic radiation
forces, they diffuse toward the side walls according to their
diffusivities. Generally, small-sized microparticles diffuse
faster than larger particles (Weigl and Yager, 1999).
Although diffusive force is dominant for small particles in
a microfluidic channel, its effect on the displacement of
microparticles was not considered in a previous analytical
model (Shi et al., 2009b).
Thirdly, under acoustic radiation pressure, a surface
acoustic wave pushes microparticles in a perpendicular
direction to the flow. The acoustic radiation force Fr and
the acoustic contrast factor Φ can be described as follows
(Yosioka and Kawasima, 1955):
2
πp0Vp βm⎞
Fr = –⎛ --------------------
- Φ( β, ρ ) sin ( 2kx ) (3)
⎝ 2λ ⎠
Korea-Australia Rheology Journal
 Manipulation of microparticles using surface acoustic wave in microfluidic systems : a brief review
and
5ρp – 2ρm βp
Φ = ---------------------
- – ------
2ρp + ρm βm
where p0 , Vp , λ, k, x, ρ and β correspond to the pressure
amplitude, the particle volume, the wavelength, the wave
vector, the distance from a pressure node to an anti-pressure
node, the density, and the compressibility of particles and
medium, respectively. Also, subscripts p and m indicate the
particles and suspension medium, respectively. On the other
hand, in addition to the acoustic radiation force, viscous
drag force toward the opposite direction of the micropar-
ticles’ velocity relative to the flow also acts on the micro-
particles, which can be described as follows (Shi et al.,
2009b):
Fv = –6πηrv
where η, r, and v correspond to the medium viscosity, the
particle radius, and the relative velocity, respectively. With
detailed consideration of the acoustic radiation force and
the viscous drag force, the drifting time of a microparticle
can be calculated as follows:
x wavelength and the width of the microchannel.
------------⎞ ln ⎛ -----------------⎞
⎛ 3ληr tan 2πx 2
⎝ π ⎠ ⎝ λ ⎠ x
-1
t = -----------------------------------------------------
2
[ p 0 V p β m Φ ( ρ, β ) ]
where r is the particle radius. Further details can be found
elsewhere (Shi et al., 2009b). From a given working time, tw,
the displacement of a microparticle in the direction perpen-
dicular to the flow can be approximately predicted as follows:
λ- tan –1( ec )
dacoustic = ----- , (7)
2π
2 4.1. Microparticle switching/directing using SAW
p 0 V p β m Φ ( ρ, β ) 2πx
- + ln ⎛ tan ⎛ -----------1⎞ ⎞
where c = tw -----------------------------------
3λ η
2 2 ⎝ ⎝ λ ⎠⎠
--------------
π based microfluidics is based on acoustic streaming induced
Here, the pressure amplitude, p0, is defined as (PZ/A)1/2,
where P is the input power of the AC signal, A is the
SSAW working area, and Z is the product of density and
SAW velocity of the substrate (Pierce, 1989).
Therefore, the displacement of a microparticle, with con-
sideration of hydrodynamic focusing, diffusion, acoustic radi-
ation force and viscous drag force, can be described as follows:
dtatal = dhydro + ddiffuse + dacoustic
w λ –1 c
= -----f + Dtw + ------ tan ( e )
2 2π
In fact, the previous standard model (Shi et al., 2009b)
considered only the two terms of the hydrodynamic focus-
ing and the acoustic radiation force. However, it was found
that the diffusive term was not negligible (Bruus, 2008).
Thus, the proposed analytical model with consideration of
Korea-Australia Rheology Journal
the diffusion of microparticles enables more accurate pre-
diction of microparticle displacement, regardless of the
(4) size and flow rates of the microparticles.
The displacement of microparticles in the SSAW work-
ing area can be can be predicted. Microparticles in the
SSAW working area are forced to migrate to either pres-
sure nodes or anti-pressure nodes depending on the nota-
tion of the acoustic contrast factor, Φ, which is a function
of the density and compressibility of the microparticle and
the medium, respectively, as described in Eq. (4). For pos-
itive Φ or negative Φ, acoustic contrast factor, the acoustic
radiation force caused by the pressure fluctuations in the
microchannel moves the microparticles toward the pres-
sure nodes or the anti-pressure nodes, respectively, as
shown in Fig. 2. For example, since the value of Φ is 0.32
for RBCs, 0.97 for WBC, and 0.67 for platelets, all blood
(5)
cells tends to migrate to pressure nodes (Dao et al., 2003;
Dong et al., 1999; Haga et al., 1998; Ku, 2006; Lam et al.,
2011; Weiser and Apfel, 1982). Moreover, to manipulate
microparticles effectively in the microchannel, the num-
bers and the positions of the pressure nodes and anti-pres-
sure nodes should be controlled by adjusting the acoustic
(6) 4. Experimental Analysis of SAW
Using a single surface acoustic wave (SAW) and mul-
tiple SAWs, microparticles can be manipulated in a microf-
luidic environment. In this section, most recent studies on
microparticle manipulation based on single SAW or SSAW
are categorized according to their working principles and
their applications, and are then reviewed.
Unlike SSAW-based microfluidics which uses the acous-
tic radiation force to manipulate the microparticles, SAW-
by a leaky SAW, as mentioned in an earlier chapter.
Recently, acoustic streaming has been used for various
applications, such as pumping (Schneider et al., 2008) and
mixing (Sritharan et al., 2006) in open microfluidic sys-
tems. Moreover, acoustic streaming enables a non-labeling
and fast microparticle sorting in the microfluidic channel.
Franke et al. (2009) used surface acoustic waves (SAWs)
to direct water droplets and polyacrylamide particles of 20
ìm in a microchannel. When the surface acoustic wave
(SAW) power is switched off, all droplets flow along the
(8) upper outlet channel, which has lower flow resistance than
the lower outlet channel. On the other hand, When the
acoustic power is switched on, the acoustic streaming
induced by the IDTs drives the droplets to the lower outlet
channel, as shown in Fig. 3. Recently, Franke et al. (2010)
demonstrated an advanced cell sorting device using SAWs
actuated by tapered IDTs. The tapered IDTs with decreas-
December 2011 Vol. 23, No. 4 259
 Jeonghun Nam, Hyunjung Lim and Sehyun Shin
Fig. 3. Schematic of the acoustic sorting devices (a) before and
(b) after SAW was generated. (c) When the SAW is
switched off, all water droplets flow along the upper out-
let channel due to its lower flow resistance. (d) When the
SAW is switched on, the acoustic streaming drove the
water droplets in the lower channel of the branch.
Reprinted from Franke et al. (2009) with permission from
The Royal Society of Chemistry.
ing finger spacing provided a narrow wave path width for
260
the propagating SAW because the finger spacing satisfied
the acoustic resonance condition at one position. Various
types of cells, such as HaCaT cells (human keratinocytes),
fibroblasts from mice and MV3 melanoma cells, were
directed and sorted directly from bulk media at rates as fast
as several kHz without cell damage due to shear forces.
4.2. Microparticle focusing using SSAW
Conventional microparticle focusing can be achieved by
several methods, such as hydrodynamic focusing (Wong et
al., 2003), dielectrophoresis (Wang et al., 2007), and elec-
trokinetic focusing (Wang et al., 2005). Focusing of micro-
particles in microfluidic devices utilizing standing surface
acoustic waves has been newly reported by some groups.
Shi et al. (2008b) first suggested a SSAW-based focusing
technique for a microchannel. Two interdigitated trans-
ducers (IDTs) were patterned on a piezoelectric LiNbO3
substrate, and a PDMS microchannel was aligned and
bonded between the two identical IDTs. A dilute solution
of fluorescent microparticles of 1.9 µm in water was
injected into the microchannel at flow velocity of 6.7 cm/s.
Forced by the standing surface acoustic waves actuated by
application of RF signals at 38.2 MHz (resonance fre-
quency) to the two IDTs, the particles with positive acous-
tic contrast factors migrated toward the center of the
channel where the pressure nodes existed and were
focused, as shown in Fig. 4.
Enhanced microparticle focusing was reported by Zeng
et al. (2010). In fact, the propagation and the absorption
loss of standing surface acoustic waves (SSAWs) have crit-
ical effects on microparticle manipulation efficiency in a
microfluidic channel. Zeng et al. added patterned Bragg
Reflectors (BR) outside the IDTs enhance the formation of
the standing surface acoustic wave (SSAW) between the
two IDTs. Additionally, air cavities were introduced on
both sides of the PDMS microchannel, reducing the
microfluidic channel walls to 50 µm in the SSAW working
area. A solution of red fluorescent polystyrene particles of
2 µm was injected and an AC signal was stimulated by a
RF signal generator at 32.2 MHz (resonance frequency)
and 23 dBm (applied power) was applied to the IDTs to
generate standing surface acoustic waves. As a result,
microparticle focusing was enhanced by the standing sur-
face acoustic wave in combination with BR and the min-
imized PDMS side wall in the SSAW working area.
Recently, three-dimensional (3D) continuous micropar-
ticle focusing was reported (Shi et al., 2011). 3D hydro-
dynamic focusing was developed because of two-
dimensional (2D) hydrodynamic focusing had several lim-
itations: difficulties in microparticle sorting and separation
when the vertical direction varied, different chemical reac-
tion times across the depth of the channel, optical inter-
rogation, and so on. A few 3D hydrodynamic focusing
techniques in microfluidic devices have been suggested
Korea-Australia Rheology Journal
 Manipulation of microparticles using surface acoustic wave in microfluidic systems : a brief review
Fig. 4. Schematic of the SSAW-induced miroparticle focusing
device, illustrating its working mechanism. The width of
microchannel was designed to contain only one pressure
node at the center of the channel such that microparticles
focused at that node when the SSAW was actuated.
Reprinted from Shi et al. (2008b) with permission from
The Royal Society of Chemistry.
(Chang et al., 2007; Mao et al., 2007; Sundararajan et al.,
2004; Terray and Hart, 2010; Yang et al., 2005). However,
most of the previous devices need an excessive sheath fluid
and complicated structure of multi-layer channels. Stand-
ing surface acoustic waves allowed sheathless 3D hydro-
dynamic focusing of 1.9 µm fluorescent microparticles in a
single-layer PDMS microfluidic channel of 50 µm width
and 100 µm height with high aspect ratio. Once the micro-
particles migrated toward the pressure nodes at the cen-
terline of the channel, the particles tended to concentrate at
points of maximum kinetic energy in the vertical direction.
Therefore, as shown in Fig. 5, the suspended micropar-
ticles were three-dimensionally focused in both horizontal
and vertical directions in the microfluidic channel. The
standing surface acoustic wave-based microparticle focus-
ing device enables simpler, faster focusing compared to
previous focusing devices.
5. Microparticle Tweezing using SSAW
Microparticle tweezing has several applications in fields
such as micro-sensor array (Flaim et al., 2005; Wheeler et
al., 2005), tissue engineering (Stevens et al., 2005), and
regenerative medicine (Khetani and Bhatia, 2007). A vari-
Korea-Australia Rheology Journal December 2011 Vol. 23, No. 4
Fig. 5. SSAW-induced three-dimensional microparticle focusing
device (a) Schematic of the experimental setup for mon-
itoring the microparticle behavior in the vertical direction
using a 45o prism adjacent to the channel. Distribution of
fluorescent light from excited microparticles (b) before
and (c) after SSAW was reflected through the prism into
the microscope to be recorded for analysis. Reprinted
from Shi et al. (2011) with permission from The Royal
Society of Chemistry.
ety of microparticle tweezing techniques has been devel-
oped using optical tweezers (Ashikin et al., 1987; Grier,
2003), magnetic tweezers (Ino et al., 2008; Lee et al.,
2004; Lee et al., 2007), dielectrophoresis (Ho et al., 2006;
Mittal et al., 2007; Thomas et al, 2009; Wang et al., 2005),
acoustophoresis based on bulk acoustic wave (Manneberg
et al., 2009; Nilsson et al., 2004; Petersson et al., 2007;
Wiklund et al., 2006), and so on. However, these previous
methods have limitations: they are bulky, have complicated
setups, and require pre-labeling etc.
A novel tweezing method using the standing surface
acoustic wave (SSAW) was proposed by Wood et al.
(2009), as shown in Fig. 6. Carboxylate functionalized flu-
orescent latex particles of 0.5, 1, and 2 µm were attracted
toward the pressure nodes or anti-pressure nodes formed
by the standing surface acoustic wave (SSAW) in a microf-
luidic channel or chamber. The number of one-dimen-
sionally patterned particle lines and the distance between
these lines could be manipulated by changing the working
resonance frequencies. Moreover, two-dimensional (2D)
particle patterning could be carried out in the microfluidic
chamber by arranging the position of two pairs of IDTs.
261
 Jeonghun Nam, Hyunjung Lim and Sehyun Shin
Fig. 6. SSAW-induced microparticle tweezing device (a) Sche-
matic of the four-port acoustic wave device showing
acoustic tweezing of microparticles in a fluidic capillary
formed with a glass cover-slip, with (1) Signal generator,
(2) power amplifier, and (3) power splitter. Two pairs of
IDTs were patterned in orthogonal arrangement. Images
of microparticles confined within the fluidic channel were
taken (b) prior to and (c) after activation of two orthog-
onal SAWs. Reprinted from Wood et al. (2009) with per-
mission from America Institute of Physics.
Shi et al. (2009a) reported similar results with only 2 IDTs
located in orthogonal directions. This technique enabled
tweezing not only 1.9 µm fluorescent (Dragon Green)
polystyrene beads, but also 6 µm bRBCs and 800 nm E.
coli cells dyed with green fluorescence proteins (GFP)
encoded plasmids. The SSAW-based microparticle tweez-
ing techniques used comparatively lower power than other
patterning methods and required only a few seconds to
drive the particles to pressure nodes or anti-pressure
nodes. Also, the microparticles which reached the nodes
experienced almost no acoustic forces. Therefore, dam-
ages due to acoustic radiation forces during the focusing
were trivial.
The microparticle tweezing technique based on standing
surface acoustic wave (SSAW), so called “acoustic twee-
zers”, can offer advantages of high speed, low power con-
sumption and easy integration with microfluidic devices.
262
6. Microparticle Separation using SSAW
Among the types of microparticle manipulation, the sep-
aration of microparticles from complex fluids has gained
much attention for continuous flow-based biological and
chemical analyses. In the standing surface acoustic wave
working area, larger particles experience higher acoustic
forces and migrate at a larger lateral displacement than
smaller particles. Therefore, by adjusting the channel
length, SAW power, flow velocity, etc., microparticles of
different sizes can be separated in the microchannel.
Shi et al. (2009b) reported a novel method of continuous
particle separation by using the standing surface acoustic
wave (SSAW) in a microfluidic channel. A mixture of par-
ticles of equal density but different sizes was injected
through two side inlets and a sheath flow of deionized
water was used to push the particles in the mixture solution
near the side walls. By generating one-dimensional stand-
ing surface acoustic waves (SSAWs) across the micro-
channel, fluorescent polystyrene beads of 0.87 µm and
4.17 µm in size experienced different amounts of acoustic
forces in the SSAW working area and migrated with dif-
ferent lateral displacements. Therefore, Shi et al. (2009b)
could separate a mixture of particles by their sizes within
360 ms. However, they needed two sheath flows, the cen-
tral sheath flow and the outer sheath flow. The central
sheath flow separated the two particle streams, and the sec-
ond sheath flow from the outer inlet prevented micropar-
ticles from becoming trapped and aggregating along the
sidewall of the microchannel.
Recently, the Shin group reported size-dependent micro-
particle separation using standing surface acoustic waves
(SSAWs) (2011a). Unlike the previous separation tech-
nique proposed by Shi et al. (2009b), a particle suspension
was focused hydrodynamically at the center of the micro-
channel as a focused stream of width ranging between 10
and 14 µm. The advantages of this method were the min-
imization of the applied shear rate on microparticles during
separation, which would be critical for the separation of
shear-dependent biological cells, such as platelets, and the
placement of the microparticles in the SSAW-effective
area. In fact, there is a SSAW-less effective area near the
wall due to the propagation of SAWs with a Rayleigh angle
from the substrate surface to the bulk fluid (Alvarez et al.,
2008; Shilton et al., 2008). Microparticles placed near the
side wall may be difficult to manipulate due to the Ray-
leigh angle. Therefore, if it is inevitable that microparticles
are to be placed near the side walls, a second sheath fluid
would be required to dislocate the microparticles from the
SSAW-less effective area (Shi et al., 2009b). In this
research, to generate standing surface acoustic waves
(SSAWs), the resonance working frequency were set at
19.5 MHz. Microparticles of different sizes (1, 5 and
10 µm) but with the same density showed different lateral
Korea-Australia Rheology Journal
 Manipulation of microparticles using surface acoustic wave in microfluidic systems : a brief review
Fig. 7. Separation of microparticles having three different sizes in
the acoustic device. The observation location was 5 mm
downstream from the onset of the SSAW field. Reprinted
from Nam et al. (2011) with permission from Springer.
Fig. 8. Selective platelet separation from whole blood in the acous-
tic device. Whole blood sample was injected and focused
hydrodynamically by the sheath flow. Blood particles in the
SSAW working area were separated in a size-gradient man-
ner. Larger blood cells (RBCs and WBCs) were driven to
the side walls of the channel and flowed through the side
outlets, while platelets were mainly sorted and collected in
the center outlet. Reprinted from Nam et al. (2011b) with
permission from The Royal Society of Chemistry.
displacements toward the side walls where pressure nodes
were generated by the two IDTs. Therefore, microparticles
Korea-Australia Rheology Journal December 2011 Vol. 23, No. 4
having three different sizes under lateral acoustic forces
can be separated, as shown in Fig. 7. Also, an analytical
model to predict the microparticles’ displacements in the
microchannel was developed.
Based on the previous results, Nam et al. (2011b)
recently reported a novel application of a standing surface
acoustic wave (SSAW)-based separation technique in
microfluidics for the direct separation of platelets from
whole blood, as shown in Fig. 8. To avoid high shear rate-
induced activation of platelets during the separation pro-
cess, the whole blood sample was hydrodynamically
focused at the center of the microchannel by injecting
sheath flows through the two side inlets. Also, the max-
imum shear rate observed at the interface near the hydro-
dynamic focusing area was 333.3 s-1, which was
significantly smaller than the threshold shear rate (2200 s-1)
to activate platelets (Shankaran et al., 2003) The pressure
nodes, where unwanted large blood cells would be forced
to migrate by acoustic forces, were designed to be located
at the side walls. Finally, platelets could be collected
through the center outlet. By means of cytometric analysis,
the RBC clearance ratio from whole blood, which was
defined as the ratio of the number of RBCs found at the
side outlets to the total number of injected RBCs, was over
99% and the purity of the collected platelets at the center
outlet was close to 98%.
7. Conclusions and Future Perspectives
In this paper, we reviewed currently available micro-
particle manipulation techniques which utilize the single
surface acoustic wave (SAW) or the multiple SAW, namely
the standing surface acoustic wave (SSAW). Compared to
other microparticle manipulation methods, SAW/SSAW-
based methods are non-invasive, harmless to microparti-
cles, applicable to all types of microparticles regardless of
their properties, consume low power and, most impor-
tantly, are easy to integrate with microfluidic devices.
Standing surface acoustic wave (SSAW) based micropar-
ticle separation has become more important than other
microparticle manipulation techniques because it is critical
to various applications, such as industrial processing, envi-
ronmental assessment, biochemical analyses, and clinical
diagnosis. SSAW-based separation techniques need to be
investigated further.
Future investigations can focus on three areas: 1) addi-
tional developments and applications of the separation
technique, 2) various other applications of SAW, and 3)
integration of the separation technique with other tech-
niques.
Microparticle separation in microfluidics using SAW can
be especially useful for the separation of bio-particles with
different physical properties such as size, density, and com-
pressibility. Also, separation based on physical properties
263
 Jeonghun Nam, Hyunjung Lim and Sehyun Shin
of particles enables rapid detection and analysis of bio-
particles without the need for pre-treatment of the samples
such as labeling or biochemical treatment processes. Sep-
aration of nano-scale particles by their size has become
important in environmental and biological research fields,
because it can be used in toxicity assessments by moni-
toring nano-particles in environmental fluids or in the
detection of platelet-derived microparticles (PDMPs),
which are related to thrombosis formation or cancer cell
transduction through the blood vascular system. With con-
ventional methods including flow cytometry, there is a
technical limitation which separation resolution is less than
500 nm. Therefore, a nano-scale particle separation tech-
nique using SAW with a higher resolution can still be
developed, and needs to be accompanied with an analytical
model considering the unique phenomenon in nanofluidics
and the optimized design of the system in terms of the
microchannel dimension and IDT configuration. The com-
pressibility of particles as well as the particle size affects
the magnitude and direction of acoustic radiation forces.
Compressibility, which can be substituted with deform-
ability, has become an increasingly important physical
property as a biomarker for detecting malaria-infected red
blood cells (malaria-iRBCs). Also, the circulating tumor
cell (CTC) is a type of the biological cell of different
deformability from those of other cells.
The SAW-based technique has mainly focused on par-
ticle manipulation such as focusing, tweezing and sepa-
ration, even though it can be used effectively with other
systems. Further advancements are still required to
achieve cell-lysis and –poration techniques, which can
demonstrate high transfection efficiency, high precision,
high throughput and most importantly, high cell viability.
SAW-based techniques have the advantages of being non-
invasive, harmless to cells, low power consuming and so
on. Therefore, SAW-based cell-lysis and –poration can be
achieved with the features of low power consumption,
high throughput, and high cell viability in a continuous
flow microfluidic systems, by adjusting the design param-
eters such as the IDT configuration (for example, focused
IDTs) and the microchannel structure in terms of shape
and dimension.
Lastly, the SAW-based microparticle manipulation sys-
tem consists of a PDMS microchannel and a piezoelec-
tric substrate, which is easy to fabricate, miniaturize and
integrate with other systems. Therefore, the SAW tech-
niques which have been described so far can be inte-
grated with other detection and analysis components into
a micro total analysis system (micro TAS). An integrated
SAW-based microparticle manipulation device with
detection or analysis components can be used for various
applications including environmental assessment, bio-
chemical analyses, and clinical diagnosis in the lab-on-a-
chip system.
264
Acknowledgement
This work was supported by the National Research
Foundation of Korea (NRF) grant funded by the Korea
government (MEST) (No. 2011-0020090).
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