Microfluidic approach could enhance blood particle analysis

A microfluidic technique can sort particles quickly and accurately, with applications across healthcare.

Despite interest in elasto-inertial microfluidics growing owing to its widespread potential applications, there has been limited work on the factors impacting particle focusing and migration. Researchers from KTH Royal Institute of Technology (Stockholm, Sweden) have conducted a thorough analysis of these two aspects, uncovering the complex particle transport mechanisms that occur within elasto-inertial flows, providing new avenues for particle sorting in blood analysis and environmental monitoring.

Elasto-inertial microfluidics combines the flow elasticity and inertia properties of liquids, to guide the movement of miniscule particles in fluids. By fine tuning the parameters impacting particle migration and focusing, the team were able to enhance the speed of particle sorting by handling large amounts of fluid quickly as well as improve the precision through using special fluids to guide particles.

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To speed up particle sorting, the microfluidic device uses channels created especially for moving large amounts of liquid quickly, while lining up particles so they can be easily separated by type.

To improve accuracy, the fluids are designed with high-polymer concentration. This means the fluids can both push and spring back, similar to the consistency of egg whites. These flexible movements allow the precise control of fluid movement in the device.

In this system, larger particles are easier to control and sort even when fluid flow increases. Smaller particles were sorted most quickly and accurately at certain optimal flow rates.

Selim Tanriverdi, lead author of the study concluded: “We showed how the sample throughput can be increased within our microfluidic channel. This would lower the process time for blood analysis, which is crucial for a patient.”