Exploring the potential of acoustics in microfluidic devices

Droplet-based microfluidics platforms offer a powerful method for performing fluidic experiments. The ability to precisely control droplet inputs, mixing, and measurements has enabled new applications in chemistry, materials science, and medicine. Key to any microfluidic platform is the mechanism used to manipulate the droplets, with different approaches offering a range of advantages and disadvantages.

Ke et al. explored recent advances in acoustofluidics — a technique using sound waves to interact with microfluidic droplets — including providing an overview of acoustic devices, a discussion of the physical mechanisms involved, and the capabilities of acoustofluidic systems.

The authors view their work as drawing attention to this powerful but overlooked droplet manipulation technique.

“Existing reviews have focused on droplet manipulation via magnetics, thermotics, and other physical fields, but there was a lack of dedicated summaries on acoustic-based methods,” said author Tiechuan Li. “We aim to fill the gap by systematically organizing acoustic devices, mechanisms, and manipulation techniques and highlighting the practical value of acoustofluidics to promote its industrialization and application expansion.”

Acoustofluidics offers advantages over other microfluidics methods, such as low cost, simplified designs, and remote droplet manipulation. These are especially relevant for applications like biomedical engineering, chemical analysis, material synthesis, and medical diagnostics and point-of-care devices.

“Applications requiring precision, non-invasiveness, high throughput, or biocompatibility stand to gain the most,” said Li.

The researchers note possible future developments for this technique include standardizing manipulation modules to improve interoperability and incorporating ultra-high-frequency acoustic devices to improve energy transfer efficiency and reduce cavitation effects.

Source: “Droplet acoustofluidics: From acoustic principles to micro manipulations,” by Xianwu Ke, Xiaotian Shen, Tiechuan Li, and Xuexin Duan, Nanotechnology and Precision Engineering (2026). The article can be accessed at https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0279907 .