Acoustic particle filter with adjustable effective pore size for automated sample preparation

This article presents analysis and optimization of a microfluidic particle filter that uses acoustic radiation forces to remove particles larger than a selected size by adjusting the driving conditions of the piezoelectric transducer (PZT). Operationally, the acoustic filter concentrates microparticles to the center of the microchannel, minimizing undesirable particle adsorption to the microchannel walls. Finite element models predict the complex two-dimensional acoustic radiation force field perpendicular to the flow direction in microfluidic devices. We compare these results with experimental parametric studies including variations of the PZT driving frequencies and voltages as well as various particle sizes (0.5-5.0 microm in diameter). These results provide insight into the optimal operating conditions and show the efficacy of our device as a filter with an adjustable effective pore size. We demonstrate the separation of Saccharomyces cerevisiae from MS2 bacteriophage using our acoustic device. With optimized design of our microfluidic flow system, we achieved yields of greater than 90% for the MS2 with greater than 80% removal of the S. cerevisiae in this continuous-flow sample preparation device.