Acoustic separation of particles for bioprocessing
AssigneeThe Charles Stark Draper Laboratory, Inc.
InventorsJason O. Fiering, Kenneth T. Kotz
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A method for separating particles in a biofluid includes pretreating the biofluid by introducing an additive, flowing the pretreated biofluid through a microfluidic separation channel, and applying acoustic energy to the microfluidic separation channel. A system for microfluidic separation, capable of separating target particles from non-target particles in a biofluid includes at least one microfluidic separation channel, a source of biofluid, a source of additive, and at least one acoustic transducer coupled to the microfluidic separation channel. A kit for microfluidic particle separation includes a microfluidic separation channel connected to an acoustic transducer, a source of an additive, and instructions for use.
Claims18
A system for microfluidic particle separation configured to separate target particles from non-target particles in a biofluid, the system comprising:
- at least one microfluidic separation channel comprising at least one inlet, a first outlet, and a second outlet, a first collection channel in fluid communication with the first outlet and a second collection channel in fluid communication with the second outlet;
- a source of the biofluid in fluid communication with the at least one inlet of the at least one microfluidic separation channel;
- a source of an additive in fluid communication with the source of the biofluid, configured to introduce at least one additive into the biofluid, the additive capable of altering one or more physical properties of at least one of the target particles, non-target particles, or biofluid,
- at least one acoustic transducer coupled to a wall of the at least one microfluidic separation channel;
- a recycle line extending from the second collection channel in fluid communication with the source of the biofluid, configured to recycle target particle depleted fluid from the second outlet to the source of the biofluid;
- at least one sensor configured to measure at least one of HCT % of the biofluid and concentration of target particles or non-target particles;
- and
- a control module in electrical communication with the at least one sensor and the source of the additive, configured to introduce a predetermined volume of the additive into the biofluid in response to a measurement of at least one of HCT % of the biofluid and concentration of the target particles or the non-target particles in the biofluid.
A system for microfluidic particle separation configured to separate target particles from non-target particles in a biofluid, the system comprising:
- at least one microfluidic separation channel comprising at least one inlet, a first outlet, and a second outlet, a first collection channel in fluid communication with the first outlet and a second collection channel in fluid communication with the second outlet;
- a source of the biofluid in fluid communication with the at least one inlet of the at least one microfluidic separation channel;
- a source of an additive in fluid communication with the source of the biofluid, configured to introduce at least one additive into the biofluid, the additive capable of altering one or more physical properties of at least one of the target particles, non-target particles, or biofluid;
- at least one acoustic transducer coupled to a wall of the at least one microfluidic separation channel to apply a standing acoustic wave transverse to the at least one microfluidic separation channel to drive the particles to a node or anti-node within the separation channel;
- at least one output sensor is configured to measure at least one of hematocrit (HCT %) of the output suspension and concentration of the target particles or the non-target particles in the output suspension;
- and
- at least one control module in electric communication with the at least one output sensor and the acoustic transducer, wherein the additive is further configured to regulate the HCT % of the output suspensions, and the control module is configured to regulate the HCT % of the output suspension to less than about 1% by regulating a volume of the additive introduced to the microfluidic separation channel.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.