Design of a scalable DNA shearing system using phased-array ultrasonic transducer

In this paper, we present the design of a Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA) shearing system based on unique acoustic waves generated using a phased-array transducer. Four 90° sector-transducers are used to build a circular array transducer. Each 90°-transducer is excited with separate RF signal of same or different phase. The proposed transducer structure generates bulk lateral ultrasonic waves in the DNA sample; the lateral waves produce both convergence and vortexing effects in the sample. The converged lateral acoustic waves are required to break the DNA sample-meniscus inside the tube and the rotational component of acoustic field is used to recirculate the DNA sample to get homogeneous shearing with tight fragment distribution. Finally, we present the experimental results of DNA sheared to different mean fragment sizes using the proposed system and validate the shearing-capability of the proposed system.