Aggregation of HEK-293 Tumorigenic Cell Line Using Sound Waves

The recurrence of tumors after a surgical resection remains a problem in cancer research. Even with surgical extraction and chemotherapy, there is no guarantee of complete removal of cancer cells. Therefore, there is a need to create tools that can remove the remaining cancer cells without damaging healthy tissue. Sound has been used to trap, manipulate, move, and sort cells and nanoparticles through non-contact cell manipulation. We are interested in using sound waves as a non-contact method to aggregate cancer cells. To do so, we investigated the effects of amplitude and frequency in a custom-made acoustic chamber.
We utilized 3D printing to prototype acoustic chambers and piezoelectric material to generate sound waves. HEK-293 tumorigenic cell line and HeLa cells were subjected to 523.25 Hz to 987.77 Hz, from 0-20V, for 30 min to 24 hrs at 37C. Cells were imagined using live-microscopy and aggregates were stained for nuclei (DAPI) and actin (phalloidin).
Rate of cell movement was inversely proportional to frequency and directly proportional to amplitude. The aggregation of cells was minimized by cell attachment to the dish. For future experiments, newly fabricated sound chambers can be used to test and regulate the directionality of echoes produced by the sound waves.