Electronic Sonotweezers: Particle Manipulation with Ultrasonic Arrays

我们精心规划了这项研究计划，以开创超声波颗粒操纵的全新能力，使电子声学除颤器在目前和未来的颗粒操纵工具包中与光学镊子、介电泳法和其他技术并驾齐驱。随着最终用户的需求，颗粒操纵是一个快速增长的领域，特别是应用于生命科学，在分析和分选、细胞力测量和组织工程中出现了新的应用。现有设备具有宝贵的功能，但在可产生和测量的力、可处理的颗粒大小、其兼容的缓冲特性范围和对加热的敏感性以及是否适合与低成本设备中的传感器集成方面也存在限制。我们方案的关键是动态势能景观的概念，以及超声波创造这种景观的既定能力，潜在地在电子/计算机控制下产生力量。我们的主要技术目标是在集成声波除草器中利用这一点，在更长的尺度上施加和测量更大的力，将微操作扩展到更大的颗粒，并在生命科学的探路者应用中展示这一点。为了实现我们的目标，我们已经进行了成功的可行性研究，并汇集了一支杰出的多学科研究团队，其中包括国际知名成员、英国一些最令人兴奋的年轻科学家和工程师，以及适当的海外合作者。这样的团队是我们认识到的具有挑战性、高度复杂、紧密联系的项目的先决条件。在其四年的时间里，凭借强大的管理和内置的研究灵活性，我们将探索关键的科学、技术和应用领域，以创造和展示电子声学除草器。在整个工作中，将在理解物理原理、建模和设计、最先进的制造、传感器集成和应用测试方面进行平行活动。

We have carefully planned this research programme to pioneer a wholly new capability in ultrasonic particle manipulation to allow electronic sonotweezers to take their place alongside optical tweezers, dielectrophoresis and other techniques in the present and future particle manipulation toolkit.Following end-user demand, particle manipulation is a rapidly growing field, notably applied to the life sciences, with emerging applications in analysis and sorting, measurement of cell forces and tissue engineering. Existing devices have valuable capabilities but also limits in terms of forces that can be produced and measured, particle sizes that can be handled, their range of compatible buffer characteristics and sensitivity to heating, and suitability for integration with sensors in low cost devices. Key to our programme is the concept of dynamic potential energy landscapes and the established ability of ultrasound to create such landscapes, potentially to generate forces under electronic / computer control. Our principal technical aim is to exploit this in integrated sonotweezers to apply and measure larger forces over longer length scales, extend micromanipulation to larger particles, and demonstrate this in pathfinder applications in life sciences.To achieve our aims, we have already carried out successful feasibility studies and brought together an outstanding multidisciplinary team of investigators including internationally established members, some of the UK's most exciting young scientists and engineers, and appropriate overseas collaborators. Such a team is a prerequisite for what we recognise as a challenging, highly complex, densely interlinked programme. Over its four years, with strong management and built-in research flexibility, we will explore key areas of science, technology and applications to create and demonstrate electronic sonotweezers. Throughout the work, there will be parallel activity in understanding of physical principles, modelling and design, state-of-the-art fabrication, sensor integration, and applications testing.