The ability to generate stable, spatiotemporally controllable concentration gradients is critical for resolving the dynamics of cellular response to a chemical microenvironment. Here we demonstrate an acoustofluidic gradient generator based on acoustically oscillating sharp-edge structures, which facilitates in a step-wise fashion the rapid mixing of fluids to generate tunable, dynamic chemical gradients. By controlling the driving voltage of a piezoelectric transducer, we demonstrated that the chemical gradient profiles can be conveniently altered (spatially controllable). By adjusting the actuation time of the piezoelectric transducer, moreover, we generated pulsatile chemical gradients (temporally controllable). With these two characteristics combined, we have developed a spatiotemporally controllable gradient generator. The applicability and biocompatibility of our acoustofluidic gradient generator are validated by demonstrating the migration of human dermal microvascular endothelial cells (HMVEC-d) in response to a generated vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) gradient, and by preserving the viability of HMVEC-d cells after long-term exposure to an acoustic field. Our device features advantages such as simple fabrication and operation, compact and biocompatible device, and generation of spatiotemporally tunable gradients.
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 6. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 11 January 2022.
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#9,526,700
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Outputs from Lab on a Chip - Miniaturisation for Chemistry & Biology
#3,056
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#99,567
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Outputs of similar age from Lab on a Chip - Miniaturisation for Chemistry & Biology
#186
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Altmetric has tracked 34,526,284 research outputs across all sources so far. This one has received more attention than most of these and is in the 72nd percentile.
So far Altmetric has tracked 7,127 research outputs from this source. They typically receive more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 7.9. This one has gotten more attention than average, scoring higher than 56% of its peers.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 410,620 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one has done well, scoring higher than 75% of its contemporaries.
We're also able to compare this research output to 506 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has gotten more attention than average, scoring higher than 62% of its contemporaries.
