the disclosure describes a prism containing a microfluidic channel . by coupling bulk acoustic wave generators to opposing sides of the prism , a standing bulk acoustic wave field can be excited in the prism and in the microfluidic channel . because the microfluidic channel is titled with respect to the nodes of the bulk acoustic wave field , the prism microfluidic channel device can be used to separate microparticles and biological cells by size , compressibility , density , shape , or mass distribution . this technology enables high throughput cell sorting for biotechnology applications such as cancer cell detection .