Instrumentation for Acoustical Discrimination of Biological Cells

摘要

Development and testing of a new acoustic device for rapid automatic counting and discriminating among biological cells is reported. This instrument uses very narrow, short wavelength acoustic beams in water to act as precise probes to detect differences of individual cells. By using wavelengths much shorter than those normally used in other biological applications, acoustic beams of very small cross-section are generated and detected. The basic technique involves measuring the perturbation in the signal caused by passage of a cell through the beam. To date progress has been achieved in fabricating and testing the transducer configuration and detecting a variety of cells including human and chicken blood and artificial cells. A computer program has been designed to sort and analyze data from the cell detector. Various acoustic resonators were designed, fabricated, and tested. The response of the resonator as a cell detecting system was tested using polystyrene sphered as test objects. Response to a single particle was large, and responses to different sized particles were distinct. Rapid flow of particles through the detecting system was possible.