Zolgharni M., Azimi S.M., Bahmanyar M.R., Balachandran W.
Brunel University, UK
Keywords: Chaotic mixing, Magnetic Particles, microfluidic
Magnetic isolation of specific biological entities through utilizing super-paramagnetic micro-particles has been of great interest in both bench-top and microfluidic platforms. Since the magnetic particles and target entities are suspended in separate fluids, prior to separation of the labelled-cell/particle complex from contaminants, magnetic particles must be distributed into the bio-fluid containing target entity through a mixing process. In bench-top protocols, this is done using conventional turbulent mixing techniques. However, in micro-scale devices where Reynolds number is often less than 1, mixing is not a trivial task due to absence of turbulence. While separation of particles in microdevices based on magnetic forces has been reported by different researchers, there are only a few prototypes developed for mixing of particles in microscale. We present a study on chaotic mixing of magnetic particles into a bio-fluid in order to evaluate the efficiency of the mixer in capturing the target cells with particles.
Journal: TechConnect Briefs
Volume: 3, Technical Proceedings of the 2007 NSTI Nanotechnology Conference and Trade Show, Volume 3
Published: May 20, 2007
Pages: 336 - 339
Industry sector: Sensors, MEMS, Electronics
Topic: Micro & Bio Fluidics, Lab-on-Chip
ISBN: 1-4200-6184-4