Hydrodynamically Focused Particle Filtration Using an Island Structure

Abstract

We propose a particle filtration method based on hydrodynamic focusing. Three microchannels associated for the filtration were networked with an island structure to control a boundary to limit particle sizes. By adjusting the ratios of hydraulic resistances of the three microchannels, the boundary distance was controlled. Using hydrodynamic focusing in the microfluidic network, we have successfully designed and tested the device to filtrate particles of 10 mu m and 20 mu m. The proposed method can continuously separate particles by size. Thus, the proposed separation method can be applicable for many fields in biology and biomedical engineering.