Abstract
Manipulation technology for single-cell analysis is becoming increasingly important for gene transfer application. Conventionally, single cell is sorted by flow cytometry and electroosmotic flow pump etc. However, these techniques do not allow the precise positioning of each cell.Herein, we propose a microfluidic device that uses surface acoustic wave (SAW) for manipulating single cells. SAW is excited by interdigital electrodes on a piezoelectric substrate, resulting in the vibration of the surface. SAW devices are fabricated on 128°Y-cut lithium niobate (LiNbO3). The manipulation devices are made on the substrate with excitation electrodes and photoresist microchannels. Channels and electrodes are fabricated by photolithography and regular MEMS technology. Two interdigital electrodes are located on both sides of channel′s track, which has a circuit-track shapes with a width and a depth are 200 µm and 120 µm, respectively. When the electrode is excited at a frequency and voltage of 10.0 MHz and 20.0 V-pp, the cell flow is changed for right to left from a velocity of 113.5 µm/sec to -93.8 µm/sec respectively.
