Inertio-elastic focusing of bioparticles in microchannels at high throughput

Eugene J. Lim, Thomas J. Ober, Jon F. Edd, Salil P. Desai, Douglas Neal, Ki Wan Bong, Patrick S. Doyle, Gareth H. McKinley () and Mehmet Toner ()
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Eugene J. Lim: Center for Engineering in Medicine and Surgical Services, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School
Thomas J. Ober: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Jon F. Edd: Center for Engineering in Medicine and Surgical Services, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School
Salil P. Desai: Center for Engineering in Medicine and Surgical Services, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School
Douglas Neal: LaVision Inc.
Ki Wan Bong: Center for Engineering in Medicine and Surgical Services, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School
Patrick S. Doyle: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Gareth H. McKinley: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Mehmet Toner: Center for Engineering in Medicine and Surgical Services, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School

Nature Communications, 2014, vol. 5, issue 1, 1-9

Abstract: Abstract Controlled manipulation of particles from very large volumes of fluid at high throughput is critical for many biomedical, environmental and industrial applications. One promising approach is to use microfluidic technologies that rely on fluid inertia or elasticity to drive lateral migration of particles to stable equilibrium positions in a microchannel. Here, we report on a hydrodynamic approach that enables deterministic focusing of beads, mammalian cells and anisotropic hydrogel particles in a microchannel at extremely high flow rates. We show that on addition of micromolar concentrations of hyaluronic acid, the resulting fluid viscoelasticity can be used to control the focal position of particles at Reynolds numbers up to Re≈10,000 with corresponding flow rates and particle velocities up to 50 ml min−1 and 130 m s−1. This study explores a previously unattained regime of inertio-elastic fluid flow and demonstrates bioparticle focusing at flow rates that are the highest yet achieved.

Date: 2014
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DOI: 10.1038/ncomms5120

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