(5bp) Inertial Microfluidics for Diagnostics and Therapeutics

Microfluidic platforms have attracted much interest for their ability to improve the efficiency, reliability and access of diagnostic and therapeutic tools in a variety of health care settings. A primary limitation of these devices, particularly microscale flow cytometry platforms, is their relatively low throughput, relative to their conventional counterparts. Inertial microfluidics offers a solution to this bottleneck. Inherently high-throughput, inertial microfluidics exploits hydrodynamic forces resulting from interactions between particles and surfaces. Lift forces, shear gradient forces and Dean drag forces are precisely controlled in microfluidic channels by geometric design to produce well-defined, predictable behavior. While inertial focusing devices are operationally simple, they exhibit rich, complex physics that may be adapted for a wide variety of applications. My work has addressed the physics of inertial migration and particle focusing in microfluidic channels, design aspects of inertial focusing devices and applications for inertial focusing technology in medicine and biomedical research. My poster will provide an overview of each of these topics. My work in these areas is detailed in the following publications:

Inertial focusing:

Controlled Microfluidic Encapsulation of Particles and Cells in Poly(Ethylene Glycol) Microparticles, Oakey, J., Edd, J., Toner, M., In Preparation.

Inertial Particle Focusing and Ordering in Microfluidic Channels, Oakey, J., Lee, E., Di Carlo, D., Toner, M., In Preparation.

Microscale Optics and Flow Cytometry:

Fiber Focused diode bar trapping for microfluidic flow manipulation, Applegate, R.A., Jr., Squier, J., Vestad, T., Oakey, J., Marr, D.W.M., Applied Physics Letters, 92, 013904, 2008.

Optically Integrated Microfluidic Systems for Cellular Characterization and Manipulation, Applegate, R.A., Jr., Schafer, D.N., Amir, W., Squier, J., Vestad, T., Oakey, J., Marr, D.W.M., J. Opt A: Pure Appl. Opt, 9, S122, 2007.

Optical Waveguides via Viscosity-Mismatched Microfluidic Flows, M. Brown, T. Vestad, J. Oakey, D.W.M. Marr, Applied Physics Letters, 88, 134106, 2006.

Microfluidic Sorting System Based on Optical Waveguide Integration and Diode Laser Bar Trapping, Applegate, R.W., Jr., Squier, J., Vestad, T., Oakey, J., Marr, D.W.M., Bado, P., Dugan, M.A., Said, A., Lab on a Chip, 6, 422-426, 2006.

Optical Trapping, Manipulation and Sorting of Cells and Colloids in Microfluidic Systems With Diode Laser Bars, Applegate, R.W., Jr., Squier, J., Vestad, T., Oakey, J., Marr, D.W.M., Optics Express, 12, 4390-4398, 2004.

Laminar Flow-Based Separations at the Microscale, Oakey, J.S., Marr, D.W.M., Biotechology Progress, 18, 1439-1442l, 2002.

Microfluidic Control Using Colloidal Devices, Terray, A., Oakey, J.S., Marr, D.W.M., Science, 296, 1841-1844, 2002.