Chemical Engineering Commons^™

Fractionation Of Cell Mixtures Using Acoustic And Laminar Flow Fields, Manoj Kumar, Donald L. Feke, Joanne M. Belovich

Chemical & Biomedical Engineering Faculty Publications

A fractionation method applicable to different populations of cells in a suspension is reported. The separation was accomplished by subjecting the suspension to a resonant ultrasonic field and a laminar flow field propagating in orthogonal directions within a thin, rectangular chamber. Steady, laminar flow transports the cell suspension along the chamber, while the ultrasonic field causes the suspended cells to migrate to the mid-plane of the chamber at rates related to their size and physical properties. A thin flow splitter positioned near the outlet divides the effluent cell suspension into two product streams, thereby allowing cells that respond faster to …