Guo, F. et al. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 112, 43–48 (2015).

In order to study cell-cell communication, researchers have been actively devising methods to precisely position cells. To date, however, such approaches have tended to perturb the cells' native state, have not achieved single-cell precision and have largely not been applicable to cells in suspension. Guo et al. now present a surface acoustic wave (SAW)-based technology for manipulating single cells, allowing them to be positioned with high precision. Their SAW device creates acoustic wells for entrapping cells with controlled cell-cell distance; simply changing the acoustic field enables them to change the cell assembly geometry. Cells can be cultured in their native medium and can be kept in suspension. Guo et al. applied the technology to study gap junctional intercellular communication by visualizing dye exchange between coupled cells.