Department of Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
Faculty of Dental Medicine and Oral Health Sciences, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
Lab Chip. 2023 Mar 1;23(5):1300-1338. doi: 10.1039/d2lc00439a.
For more than 70 years, acoustic waves have been used to screen, diagnose, and treat patients in hundreds of medical devices. The biocompatible nature of acoustic waves, their non-invasive and contactless operation, and their compatibility with wide visualization techniques are just a few of the many features that lead to the clinical success of sound-powered devices. The development of microelectromechanical systems and fabrication technologies in the past two decades reignited the spark of acoustics in the discovery of unique microscale bio applications. Acoustofluidics, the combination of acoustic waves and fluid mechanics in the nano and micro-realm, allowed researchers to access high-resolution and controllable manipulation and sensing tools for particle separation, isolation and enrichment, patterning of cells and bioparticles, fluid handling, and point of care biosensing strategies. This versatility and attractiveness of acoustofluidics have led to the rapid expansion of platforms and methods, making it also challenging for users to select the best acoustic technology. Depending on the setup, acoustic devices can offer a diverse level of biocompatibility, throughput, versatility, and sensitivity, where each of these considerations can become the design priority based on the application. In this paper, we aim to overview the recent advancements of acoustofluidics in the multifaceted fields of regenerative medicine, therapeutic development, and diagnosis and provide researchers with the necessary information needed to choose the best-suited acoustic technology for their application. Moreover, the effect of acoustofluidic systems on phenotypic behavior of living organisms are investigated. The review starts with a brief explanation of acoustofluidic principles, the different working mechanisms, and the advantages or challenges of commonly used platforms based on the state-of-the-art design features of acoustofluidic technologies. Finally, we present an outlook of potential trends, the areas to be explored, and the challenges that need to be overcome in developing acoustofluidic platforms that can echo the clinical success of conventional ultrasound-based devices.
七十多年来，声波已被广泛应用于数百种医疗设备中，用于筛查、诊断和治疗患者。声波的生物相容性、非侵入性和非接触式操作，以及与广泛的可视化技术的兼容性，仅是使其在声音驱动设备中取得临床成功的众多特性中的一部分。在过去的二十年中，微机电系统和制造技术的发展重新点燃了声学在发现独特的微尺度生物应用方面的火花。声流，即纳米和微观尺度下声波和流体力学的结合，使研究人员能够获得用于颗粒分离、隔离和浓缩、细胞和生物颗粒的图案化、流体处理以及即时生物传感策略的高分辨率和可控操作及传感工具。声流的这种多功能性和吸引力导致了平台和方法的快速扩展，这也使得用户难以选择最佳的声学技术。根据设置，声学设备可以提供不同程度的生物相容性、吞吐量、多功能性和灵敏度，其中每一个方面都可以根据应用成为设计重点。本文旨在全面概述声流在再生医学、治疗开发以及诊断等多方面领域的最新进展，并为研究人员提供选择最适合其应用的声学技术所需的必要信息。此外，还研究了声流系统对生物体表型行为的影响。综述首先简要解释了声流原理、不同的工作机制，以及基于声流技术的最新设计特点的常用平台的优势或挑战。最后，我们提出了潜在趋势的展望、需要探索的领域以及在开发能够呼应常规基于超声设备的临床成功的声流平台方面需要克服的挑战。
