Technology transfer of microfluidic devices to real-world products has largely been limited due to their dependence on external micro pumps and sample preparation requirements. To address this challenge, together with our colleagues Dr. Po-Hsun Huang, Dr. Adem Ozcelik, and Dr. Murat Kaynak, we conceived and developed a new class of acoustofluidic devices where highly controllable streaming flows are generated via the inclusion of an oscillating sharp-edge inside the microchannel. Using the precise fluid control and manipulation capability offered by these devices, we developed a series of such devices where we demonstrated on-chip mixing and pumping and explored further applications such as on-chip chemical gradient generation and the first ever on-chip human sputum liquefaction. My research focused on a careful numerical treatment of such devices and provided a singularity analysis for fluid flows analogous to that of the stress fields around crack tips in linear elasticity. The interaction of the streaming flows with an underlying background flow was also investigated for mixing applications. Through a wide range of applications, we demonstrated the great promise of these sharp-edge based devices towards the realization of an integrated microfluidic platform capable of on-chip sample preparation and processing without any external dependence. We continue to further our understanding of the sharp-edge based acoustofluidic platform, both from a fundamental physics viewpoint as well as an application viewpoint, to realize a truly lab-on-a-chip device without any external dependence.
References:
- N. Nama, P. H. Huang, T. J. Huang, and F. Costanzo, Investigation of micromixing by acoustically oscillated sharp edges, Biomicrofluidics, Vol. 10, 024124, 2016.
- A. Ozcelik, N. Nama, P. H. Huang, M. Kaynak, M. R. Reynolds, W. Hanna-Rose, and T. J. Huang, Acoustofluidic rotational manipulation using oscillating solid structures, Small, Vol. 12, 5120-5125, 2016. (Featured as front cover image)
- M. Kaynak, A. Ozcelik, N. Nama, A. Nourhani, P. E. Lammert, V. H. Crespi, and T. J. Huang, Acoustofluidic actuation of in situ fabricated microrotors, Lab on a Chip, Vol. 16, pp. 3532-3537, 2016.
- P. H. Huang, L. Ren, N. Nama, S. Li, P. Li, X. Yao, R. A. Cuento, C. H. Wei, Y. Chen, Y. Xie, A. A. Nawaz, Y. G. Alevy, M. J. Holtzman, J. P. McCoy, S. J. Levine, and T. J. Huang, An acoustofluidic sputum liquefier, Lab on a Chip, Vol. 15, pp. 3125-3131, 2015. (Featured as front cover image)
- P. H. Huang, C. Y. Chan, P. Li, N. Nama, Y. Xie, C. H. Wei, Y. Chen, and T. J. Huang, A spatiotemporally controllable chemical gradient generator via acoustically oscillating sharp-edge structures, Lab on a Chip, Vol. 15, pp. 4166 - 4176, 2015.
- N. Nama, P. H. Huang, T. J. Huang, and F. Costanzo, Investigation of acoustic streaming patterns around oscillating sharp edges, Lab on a Chip, Vol. 14, pp. 2824-2836, 2014.
- P. H. Huang, N. Nama, Z. Mao, P. Li, J. Rufo, Y. Chen, Y. Xie, C. H. Wei, L. Wang, and T. J. Huang, A reliable, programmable acoustofluidic pump powered by oscillating sharp-edge structures, Lab on a Chip, Vol. 14, pp. 4319-4323, 2014. (Selected as a Lab on a Chip HOT Article of 2014, and featured as front cover image)
- P. H. Huang, Y. Xie, D. Ahmed, J. Rufo, N. Nama, Y. Chen, C. Y. Chan, and T. J. Huang, An acoustofluidic micromixer based on oscillating sidewall sharp-edges, Lab on a Chip, Vol. 13, pp. 3847-3852, 2013. (Selected as a Lab on a Chip HOT Article of 2013).