Therapeutic cell washing, concentration, and separation utilizing acoustophoresis

A method of recovering cells from a cell culture, comprising:

• feeding an initial mixture of the cell culture to a flow chamber of an acoustophoretic device, the acoustophoretic device including at least one ultrasonic transducer that includes a piezoelectric material that is configured to be driven to generate a multi-dimensional acoustic wave in the flow chamber;
• and
• driving the at least one ultrasonic transducer to generate a multi-dimensional acoustic wave in an acoustic region in the flow chamber;
• providing the initial mixture to the acoustic region;
• and
• retaining the cells from the initial mixture in the acoustic region to form clusters of the cells to grow in size in the acoustic region;
• wherein an input rate of the initial mixture to the flow chamber is in a range of from about 10 ml/min to about 15 ml/min.

An acoustophoretic device, comprising:

• a flow chamber with a first outlet;
• at least one ultrasonic transducer coupled to the flow chamber and including a piezoelectric material that is adapted to be driven to generate an acoustic wave in an acoustic region of the flow chamber, such that particles are trapped to form particle clusters in the acoustic region that can grow in size when a fluid and particle mixture is provided to the acoustic region;
• a diminished particle concentration region adjacent the acoustic region and in fluid communication with the first outlet, the diminished particle concentration region being interposed between the acoustic region and the first outlet;
• and
• a fluid input region on an opposite side of the acoustic region from the first outlet that permits fluid flow into the acoustic region, such that an input fluid flows through the acoustic region while the particles and particle clusters remain trapped in the acoustic region;
• wherein the dimensions of the flow chamber and the first outlet are sized to accommodate a flow rate in a range of from about 10 ml/min to about 15 ml/min.