Martin Viklund

Ultrasound is one of our most common imaging methods within medical technology. Another application area is the manipulation of small objects that are affected by an acoustic radiation force. The force of the ultrasound can capture objects in a similar manner to creating beautiful patterns of sand on a vibrating plate. Such a method has been used for the last 20 years in microfluidic chips, i.e. small fluid channels inside plates built mainly of silicon and glass. Above all, the application areas are the separation, sorting and concentration of biological cells. This technique is called “acoustophoresis”.

Martin Viklund’s research focuses on developing an ultrasound-based technique to create models of tissue and tumours. With the help of acoustic radiation forces from ultrasound fields at megahertz frequencies, the cellular building blocks can be assembled into three dimensional structures on a
microchip, called a 3D cell culture. In such a way, one can create and study miniaturised models of organs or tumours, etc. An application of the technique is creating models that can be used to study the conditions within which our immune system can fight fast-growing tumours.