Effect of the shear rate and residence time on the lysis of AC16 human cardiomyocyte cells via surface acoustic waves

The efficient breakage of one cell or a concentration of cells for releasing intracellular material such as DNA, without damaging it, is the first step for several diagnostics or treatment processes. As the cell membrane is easy to bend but resistant to stretching, the exposure of the cell to a shear rate during a short period of time can be sufficient to damage the membrane and facilitate the extraction of DNA. However, how to induce high shear stresses on cells in small microliter volumes samples has remained an elusive problem. Surface acoustic waves operating at high frequencies can induce acoustic streaming leading to shear rates sufficient to cell lysis. Lysis induced by acoustic streaming in sessile droplets has been investigated in the past from the lysis efficiency point of view. However, the effects of the velocity field and shear rate induced by acoustic streaming on the lysis process remain unexplored. Here, we study the lysis of AC16 human cardiomyocytes in microliter droplets under the effect of the shear rate induced by acoustic streaming. It is identified that for a given shear rate, the extracted DNA is also affected by the actuation period which can be attributed to a cycling process that leads to an accumulation of damage on the cell membrane.