Particle handling apparatus for handling particles in fluid by acoustic radiation pressure

An apparatus for concentrating particles in a fluid, comprising:

• a chamber having a rectangular parallelepiped space for containing said fluid and through which said fluid can flow, and at least one face of said chamber comprising a material which is permeable to light,
• means for monitoring said particles in said chamber by an optical method,
• a set of piezoelectric devices being attached to a set of opposite outer faces of said chamber, parallel to said fluid flow, wherein on each said opposite outer face, said piezoelectric devices being arranged in a two-dimensional array having a first sub-plurality of piezoelectric devices substantially aligned in a first direction and a second sub-plurality of piezoelectric devices substantially aligned in a second direction and each said piezoelectric device being driven independently, and wherein a width of said rectangular parallelepiped space in said chamber is λ/2, and a thickness of the wall of the said chamber is λ/2 or a multiple of λ/2, where λ is a wavelength of the ultrasound generated by said piezoelectric devices, and
• an ultrasonic control section, which supplies sinusoidal electric voltages to said piezoelectric devices so that the ultrasound irradiated from said piezoelectric devices can form a standing wave in said chamber and a bottom of a potential well can be formed at a center of said chamber.

An apparatus for handling particles comprising:

• a chamber containing solution in which said particles are suspended;
• a first ultrasonic wave generator being arranged in said solution and being formed by first ultrasonic generating elements arranged in two dimensions in a first flat plane, each of said first ultrasonic generating elements being driven independently of each other;
• a second ultrasonic wave generator being arranged in said solution and being formed by second ultrasonic generating elements arranged in two dimensions in a second flat plane which is parallel to said first flat plane, each of said second ultrasonic generating elements being driven independently of each other;
• and
• an ultrasonic control section which controls selection of the number and positions of said first and second ultrasonic generating elements, and controls an amplitude and a phase of waveform of each of ultrasonic waves generated by said selected first and second ultrasonic generating elements so as to focus the ultrasonic waves at a predetermined position in said chamber and to move said particles in a direction to a predetermined position at which a minimum point of a force potential is formed by superposition of the gradient force fields by said selected first and second ultrasonic generating elements.

An apparatus for concentrating particles in a fluid, comprising:

• a chamber having a rectangular parallelepiped space for containing said fluid in which said particles are distributed, said chamber comprising a material which is permeable to light,
• a plurality of piezoelectric devices attached to said chamber such that a sub-plurality of said piezoelectric devices are lined up in each of two different directions so as to form a two-dimensional array, and each of said piezoelectric devices being driven independently of each other and irradiating an ultrasound beam into said fluid,
• an ultrasonic control section which supplies sinusoidal electric voltages with at least one of different phases simultaneously and different intensities simultaneously to differing said piezoelectric devices,
• means for monitoring a distribution of said particles in said chamber by an optical method, and
• means for extracting a portion of fluid from said chamber, and means for controlling an extraction place in said chamber by moving a position of a tube in accordance with an observed particle distribution in said chamber using the data obtained from said means for monitoring.

An apparatus for concentrating particles in a fluid, comprising:

• a chamber having a rectangular parallelepiped space for containing said fluid, and being at least partially constructed of a material which is permeable to light,
• first and second plurality sets of piezoelectric devices, each of said first and second plurality sets being attached to a set of opposite outer faces of said chamber and arranged parallel to a flow within said rectangular parallelepiped space so as to introduce ultrasound energy into the chamber perpendicular to said flow's direction, said first and second plurality sets each being arranged such that a sub-plurality of said piezoelectric devices are lined up in each of two different directions so as to form a two-dimensional array, and each of said piezoelectric devices being driven independently of each other and irradiating an ultrasound beam,
• an ultrasonic control section which supplies sinusoidal electric voltages with at least one of different phases simultaneously and different intensities simultaneously to differing said piezoelectric devices,
• a width of said rectangular parallelepiped space perpendicular to said fluid flow in said chamber is λ/2 or a multiple of λ/2, and a thickness of a wall of a face of said chamber perpendicular to said fluid flow is λ/2 or a multiple of λ/2, where λ is a wavelength of said ultrasound generated by said piezoelectric devices,
• means for monitoring a distribution of said particles in said chamber by an optical method, and
• a means for extracting a portion of fluid from said chamber, and means for controlling an extraction place in said chamber by moving a position of a tube in accordance with an observed particle distribution in said chamber using the data obtained from said means for monitoring.

An apparatus for concentrating particles in a fluid, comprising:

• a chamber having a substantially rectangular parallelepiped space for containing said fluid in which said particles are distributed, said chamber comprising a material which is permeable to light,
• a plurality of piezoelectric devices attached to said chamber such that a sub-plurality of said piezoelectric devices are lined up in each of two different directions on a predetermined surface of said chamber, and each piezoelectric device faces said predetermined surface so as to form a two-dimensional array of piezoelectric devices upon said predetermined surface, and each of said piezoelectric devices being driven independently of each other and irradiating an ultrasound beam in a direction substantially perpendicular to said predetermined surface of said two-dimensional array, and
• an ultrasonic control section which supplies sinusoidal electric voltages with at least one of different phases simultaneously and different intensities simultaneously to differing said piezoelectric devices,
• means for monitoring a distribution of said particles in said chamber by an optical method, and
• means for extracting a portion of fluid from said chamber, and means for controlling an extraction place in said chamber by moving a position of a tube in accordance with an observed particle distribution in said chamber using the data obtained from said means for monitoring.

An apparatus for handling particles comprising:

• a chamber containing solution in which said particles are suspended;
• a first ultrasonic wave generator being arranged in said solution and being formed by first ultrasonic generation elements arranged in two dimensions in a first flat plane, each of said first ultrasonic generating elements being driven independently of each other;
• a second ultrasonic wave generator being arranged in said solution and being formed by second ultrasonic generating elements arranged in two dimensions in a second flat plane which is parallel to said first flat plane, each of said second ultrasonic generating elements being driven independently of each other;
• and
• an ultrasonic control section which controls selection of the number and positions of said first and second ultrasonic generating elements, and controls an amplitude and a phase of waveform of each of ultrasonic waves generated by said selected first and second ultrasonic generating elements so as to focus the ultrasonic waves at a predetermined position at which said particles are to be trapped in said chamber.

An apparatus for handling particles comprising:

• a chamber containing solution in which said particles are suspended;
• an ultrasonic wave generator being arranged in said solution and being formed by ultrasonic generating elements arranged in two dimensions in a flat plane, each of said ultrasonic generating elements being driven independently of each other;
• and
• an ultrasonic control section which controls an amplitude and a phase of waveform of each of ultrasonic waves generated by said ultrasonic generating elements so as to focus the ultrasonic waves at a direction to a predetermined position at which a minimum point of a force potential is to be formed by superposition of the gradient force fields by said ultrasonic generating elements.