An opto-acousto-fluidic microscopic system with a high spatiotemporal resolution for microfluidic applications

Abstract

In this work, we develop a new opto-acouto-fludic microsopic system, which employs a high-speed one-dimensional galvanometer scanner and an ultrafast pulse laser (600 kHz). The new system has achieved a high two-dimensional frame rate of up to 2500 Hz with a lateral resolution of 1.7 μm and an axial resolution of 36 μm at the imaging plane. To demonstrate the improved performance of the new system compared to our previous one, we carried out experiments to image the flowing droplets generated with T-junction and flow focusing configurations. We also successfully imaged dynamic migration of magneto particles subjected to non-uniform magnetic field in the microchannel. The results suggest that our new system has sufficient spatiotemporal resolutions to carry out studies for high throughput microfluidic applications.

The Fusion of Microfluidics and Optics for On-Chip Detection and Characterization of Microalgae

“…Optofluidic imaging-based flow cytometers can achieve a higher throughput, and can provide precise analysis and statistics of microalgae species on the basis of their morphological properties. In addition, this method can be extended by hybridization with new optical imaging methodologies, such as photoacoustic microscopy [133,134], holographic microscopy [135,136], time-stretch microscopy [88,90], etc., to realize multi-functional parameter extraction.…”

“…Photoacoustic imaging exhibits excellent advantages, such as rich optical contrast, deep penetration depth, and specific ability of three dimensional (3D) imaging, which guarantees the wide use of visualization and detection of biological tissues in in vitro and in vivo clinical studies [137,138]. Song et al developed a microfluidic photoacoustic microscopy technique that realized both 2-dimensional (2D) and 3-dimensional visualization of the droplets with high throughput [133]; the lateral resolution of this technique can be enhanced to reach an optical diffraction limit (~5 µm). Subsequently, the opto-acoustic-fluidic-based technology was used for the detection and identification of red blood cells and circulating primitive cells [139].…”

On-Chip Multicolor Photoacoustic Imaging Flow Cytometry

“…Previously, we proposed and achieved the integration of photoacoustic microscopy and microfluidics, referred to as opto-acousto-microfluidic microscopy, to visualize RBCs encapsulated in droplets via microchannels. , However, in addition to the bulky size and limited applicable scenarios, the first-generation device suffers from low spatiotemporal resolution and the second generation is severely limited by difficult operation in the transmission imaging mode. To solve these issues, in this study, we design and develop a reflection-model PAIFC with integration of the optical excitation, microfluidic chip, and ultrasound detection in an on-chip device with an outer size of 30 × 17 × 24 mm 3 .…”

Three-dimensional visualization and analysis of flowing droplets in microchannels using real-time quantitative phase microscopy

“…However, the droplet image reconstruction of this technique depends on the distribution of fluorescent particles inside the droplet, and thus has a limited spatial Please do not adjust margins Please do not adjust margins resolution. More recently, we have proposed the use of optoacousto-fluidic microscopy for 3-D visualization of droplets with high spatial and temporal resolution 21,22 . The 3-D visualization of droplets can be re-constructed with optoacoustic signals retrieved by light-beam scanning along the transverse direction and fluidic scanning along the flowing direction.…”