No nozzle required (Image: Dr Mk Tan/Micro/Nanophysics Laboratory/Monash University)
BY USING sound to manipulate biological samples on a “lab-on-a-chip”, the dream of rapid – even on-the-spot – chemical analysis and diagnosis of disease has moved closer to reality.
The trick is to induce powerful acoustic waves in a droplet of your target sample on a chip by using something called surface acoustic waves or SAWs. These high-energy sound waves can be used to cause ripples in a piezoelectric material, which can transform voltage into mechanical movement or vice versa. In this case SAWs stimulate movements in fluids,…
