Using acoustic vibrations to manipulate liquids for handheld diagnostic devices
Advanced diagnostic systems are required in both developed and developing countries to test patients outside the centralized facilities of hospital laboratories. In the developing world especially, diseases such as Malaria, sleeping sickness (Human African Trypanosomiasis or HAT), and tuberculosis, still take a significant toll on the population. Professor Jon Cooper’s group at the University of Glasgow has developed a technology based on ultrasonics and the nanometer vibrations they generate at the surface of microchips, to manipulate liquid samples and integrate diagnostic tests onto disposable portable systems. Laser vibrometry critically enables to characterize the vibrations on the surfaces with a high spatial resolution and on large scales, to validate designs.