Acoustophoretic device with piezoelectric transducer array

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10953436-B2
Application number	US-201615285349-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 4, 2016
Priority date	Mar 15, 2012
Publication date	Mar 23, 2021
Grant date	Mar 23, 2021

Abstract

An apparatus for separating particles from a fluid stream includes a flow chamber that has at least one inlet and at least one outlet. At least one ultrasonic transducer is located on a wall of the flow chamber. The transducer includes a piezoelectric array with at least two piezoelectric elements. The piezoelectric array includes a piezoelectric material to create a multi-dimensional acoustic standing wave in the flow chamber. A reflector is located on the wall on the opposite side of the flow chamber from the at least one ultrasonic transducer.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. An apparatus for separating a second fluid or a particulate from a host fluid, comprising:
a flow chamber that includes at least one inlet and at least one outlet;
at least one ultrasonic transducer coupled to the flow chamber and including a piezoelectric array formed from a plurality of piezoelectric elements, and at least one of the piezoelectric elements being configured to be excited to vibrate in a higher order mode to generate a multi-dimensional acoustic standing wave in the flow chamber; and
wherein the piezoelectric elements are arranged in a uniform or non-uniform pattern.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising at least one reflector across the flow chamber from the at least one ultrasonic transducer.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the piezoelectric array is present on a single crystal, with one or more channels separating the piezoelectric elements from each other.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein each piezoelectric element is physically separated from surrounding piezoelectric elements by a potting material.

5. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein each piezoelectric element is connected to an individual electrode, such that each piezoelectric element can be individually controlled for phasing, frequency, and power.

6. The apparatus of claim 5 , wherein the plurality of piezoelectric elements also share a common ground electrode.

7. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the piezoelectric array can be rotated during operation.

8. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the piezoelectric elements are arranged in a brick pattern, a honeycomb pattern, or a diamond pattern.

9. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the at least one ultrasonic transducer comprises:
a housing having a top end, a bottom end, and an interior volume; and
the plurality of piezoelectric elements at the bottom end of the housing, each of the plurality of piezoelectric elements having an exterior surface and an interior surface; and
an air gap between the plurality of piezoelectric elements and the top end of the housing.

10. The apparatus of claim 9 , wherein the exterior surface of each piezoelectric element is covered by a wear surface material with a thickness of a half wavelength or less, the wear surface material being a urethane or silicone coating.

11. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein each piezoelectric element has no backing layer or wear layer.

12. A method of separating a second fluid or a particulate from a host fluid, comprising:
flowing a mixture of the host fluid and the second fluid or particulate through an apparatus, the apparatus comprising:
a flow chamber that includes at least one inlet and at least one outlet; and
at least one ultrasonic transducer coupled to the flow chamber and including a piezoelectric array formed from a plurality of piezoelectric elements; and
at least one of the piezoelectric elements being configured to be excited to vibrate in a higher order mode to generate a multi-dimensional acoustic standing wave in the flow chamber; and

exciting the at least one ultrasonic transducer to generate the multi-dimensional acoustic standing wave in the flow chamber to separate the second fluid or particulate from the host fluid;
wherein an axial force component aligned in a direction of propagation of the multi-dimensional acoustic standing wave and a lateral force component aligned in a direction transverse to the direction of propagation of the multi-dimensional acoustic standing wave are of the same order of magnitude.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein the apparatus further comprises at least one reflector across the flow chamber from the at least one ultrasonic transducer.

14. The method of claim 12 , wherein the particulate is monoclonal antibodies recombinant proteins, Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells, NS0 hybridoma cells, baby hamster kidney (BHK) cells, or human cells; T cells, B cells, or NK cells; peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs); algae or other plant cells, bacteria, viruses, or microcarriers.

15. The method of claim 12 , wherein the flow rate of the host fluid through the flow chamber is at least 40 mL/min.

16. The method of claim 12 , wherein each piezoelectric element is individually driven at a frequency, the array having varying frequencies.

17. The method of claim 12 , wherein the piezoelectric array is present on a single crystal, with one or more channels separating the piezoelectric elements from each other.

18. The method of claim 12 , wherein each piezoelectric element is physically separated from surrounding piezoelectric elements by a potting material.

Assignees

• Flodesign Sonics Inc

Inventors

• Lipkens Bart
• Dionne Jason

Classifications

• G10K15/02

  Synthesis of acoustic waves (synthesis of speech G10L13/00) · CPC title

• B01D43/00

  Separating particles from liquids, or liquids from solids, otherwise than by sedimentation or filtration (flotation processes B03D1/00; drying solid materials or objects F26B) · CPC title

• C12M47/02

  Separating microorganisms from the culture medium; Concentration of biomass (separating microorganisms from their culture media C12N1/02) · CPC title

• B06B1/0622 Primary

  on one surface · CPC title

• H01L41/0533

  Electricity · mapped topic