Influence of the microchannel geometry on magnetophoretic separation of functionalized magnetic beads in a microfluidic sorter and field flow fractionation device

N. Modak¹ - A. Datta² - R. Ganguly²

¹ Department of Mechanical Engineering, Jadavpur University, Kolkata 700032, India
² Department of Power Engineering, Jadavpur University, Kolkata 700098, India

Abstract
Analyses of magnetophoretic transport of magnetic microspheres in representative T-shaped microchannels and field flow fractionation (FFF) devices are performed to arrive at the design basis for MEMS-scale bio-separators. The trajectories of the particles in the flow through a two-dimensional microchannel under an external magnetic field produced by a line dipole are described. Capture efficiency and separation index for the particles are defined and computed at the two outlets. Variations of the capture indices under different geometric parameters are characterized. The capture efficiency is found to be a function of the widths of the outlet ports. The study helps to determine the optimum geometric and operating conditions to achieve the best performance of the T-shaped microchannel and FFF device for BioMEMS applications. Figs 5, Refs 8.