Acoustofluidic manipulation of biological bodies: Generation, visualization, and stimulation of cellular constructs
Carugo D., Hammarström B., Jonnalagadda U., Lei J., Plazonic F., Messaoudi W., Shaglwf ZI., Glynne-Jones P., Hill M.
Ultrasound-based external manipulation of biological bodies in microfluidics has emerged as a contactless way of manipulating cells and particles for a range of applications, including sample enrichment, filtration, and sorting. Furthermore, it has been recently utilized to drive cells to form multi-cellular architectures, including clusters and planar sheets, by appropriately designing the resonant ultrasound field within the acoustofluidic device. In this presentation, we demonstrate the development of ultrasonic bioreactors for generating 3D, scaffold-free tissue constructs. We apply this technology to the generation of neocartilage grafts and examine their potential for repair chondral defects, and to the generation of co-culture models of the mucosal airway. Furthermore, we illustrate how the ultrasonic standing wave field can be designed to generate and modulate different stress regimes on suspended cells, for activating mechanotransductive pathways or for enhancing intracellular delivery of bioactive compounds. Integration of acoustofluidic systems with advanced microscopy techniques for quantifying biophysical effects of ultrasound on single cells or cellular constructs is also discussed.