Experimental Investigation of Multi-Particles Sorting using Microfluidic Devices

Abstract

In inertial Microfluidic field, movement of different particle causes different equilibrium position in microchannel because of the inertial effects. For particle sorting this is not appreciable. So with the help of secondary flow (which is at right angle to the primary flow) and drag of particles, number of equilibrium positions can be reduced and this also help in focusing of the particles. Amplitude and direction of secondary flow can be influenced by the curved configuration of the microchannel. In this thesis work, three different size of blood cells (Erythrocyte 9μm, Lymphocyte 15μm and Monocyte 20μm) were analyzed using passive techniques. We used two different techniques for the manufacturing of microchannel. First microchannel was produced by using SLA 3D printing and second channel was manufacture by using laser cutting technique. In both techniques, there was only one inlet and three outlets. We use three different angles (30, 60 and 90) between outlets for each manufacturing technique. Both channels were studied under microscope. Among these two channels laser channel gives better results. After taking images with the help of microscope, image post processing was done by using MATLAB. We can use that microfluidic device in medical labs as it is easy to use, portable and had low cost.