An apparatus for delivering a target substance according to the present invention comprises: a tube through which a solution including cells or extracellular vesicles and a target substance passes; and a shock-wave generator which is arranged on one side of the tube and applies extracorporeal shock-waves to the solution, thereby inserting the target substance into the cells or the extracellular vesicles. In such an apparatus for delivering a target substance, by introducing a target substance into cells or extracellular vesicles in a tube by applying extracorporeal shock-waves, delivering a target substance into a large amount of cells or extracellular vesicles is rapidly performed, and thus it is industrially easy to mass-produce a therapeutic agent.

Methods and systems for separating material from a host fluid use an acoustophoresis device. These methods and systems can deflect material (e.g., a second fluid, cells, beads or other particles, exosomes, viruses, oil droplets) in host fluid streams at high flow rates.

The present invention comprises methods and systems that use acoustic radiation pressure.

Aspects of the disclosure are directed to an apparatus for separating a second fluid or a particulate from a host fluid. That apparatus comprises a flow chamber with at least one inlet and at least one outlet. A drive circuit configured to provide a drive signal to a filter circuit configured to receive the drive signal and provide a translated drive signal. An ultrasonic transducer is cooperatively arranged with the flow chamber, and transducer includes at least one piezoelectric element configured to be driven by the current drive signal to create an acoustic standing wave in the flow chamber. At least one reflector opposing the ultrasonic transducer to reflect acoustic energy.

Systems and methods for cleansing blood are disclosed herein. The methods include acoustically separating target particles from elements of whole blood. The whole blood and capture particles are flowed through a microfluidic separation channel formed in a thermoplastic. At least one bulk acoustic transducer is attached to the microfluidic separation channel. A standing acoustic wave, imparted on the channel and its contents by the bulk acoustic transducer, drives the formed elements of the blood and target particles to specific aggregation axes.

A system for imploding leukemia cells of a patient includes (a) a first vessel for containing a volume of blood received from the patient, and (b) drive circuitry cooperatively coupled with at least one transducer to produce ultrasound energy that spatially decoheres and disperses throughout the volume, to implode the leukemia cells throughout the volume via absorption of the ultrasound energy by the leukemia cells. The transducer may be an immersible transducer configured to be immersed in the blood. The system may include a second vessel for containing a liquid, within which the ultrasound energy is decohered and dispersed and from which at least a portion of the ultrasound energy is transmitted to the first vessel to implode the leukemia cells.

A method for separating particles in a biofluid includes pretreating the biofluid by introducing an additive, flowing the pretreated biofluid through a microfluidic separation channel, and applying acoustic energy to the microfluidic separation channel. A system for microfluidic separation, capable of separating target particles from non-target particles in a biofluid includes at least one microfluidic separation channel, a source of biofluid, a source of additive, and at least one acoustic transducer coupled to the microfluidic separation channel. A kit for microfluidic particle separation includes a microfluidic separation channel connected to an acoustic transducer, a source of an additive, and instructions for use.

The present disclosure describes a system and method for microfluidic separation. More particularly, the disclosure describes a system and method for the purification of a fluid by the removal of undesired particles. The device includes microfluidic separation channels that include multiple outlets. The device also includes isolation slots positioned between each of the microfluidic separation channels. The device's base includes multiple acoustic transducers which in some implementations are configured to protrude into the isolation slots. The acoustic transducers are configured to generate aggregation axes within the separation channels, which are used to separate out undesired particles.

The present disclosure describes a method of separating particles using a combination of acoustophoresis and acoustic fluid relocation. The disclosure also describes a microfluidic device that can be used to separate particles using a combination of acoustophoresis and acoustic fluid relocation. The disclosure describes methods of separating nanoparticles, microparticles, nanoparticles from microparticles, and micron-sized particles from sub-micron-sized particles.

The present invention comprises methods and systems that use acoustic radiation pressure.