Affinity-bead-mediated acoustophoresis: a novel tool in cytometry.

Abstract

ACOUSTOPHORESIS combined with biofunctionalized capture beads—a method called affinity-bead-mediated acoustophoresis—can be used for highly selective isolation of CD41 lymphocytes from peripheral blood progenitor cell products (PBPCS). This opens possibilities for improved hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. Acoustophoresis is a method based on the migration of suspended particles or cells in an acoustic field caused by the acoustic radiation force. When implemented in a flowthrough setting, acoustophoresis can be used for separation of particles from a fluid medium, or separation of particles having different size and acoustic properties (1). Over the last 10–15 years, acoustophoresis applied to microfluidic devices has been rapidly developing (2), primarily due to its simplicity and low cost relative alternative methods. For cytometry purposes, acoustophoresis-based technology was recently (in year 2010) implemented commercially for improving cell alignment, as an alternative to the standard sheath-flow alignment [Attune