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A high‐discernment microflow cytometer with microweir structure
Author(s) -
Fu LungMing,
Tsai ChienHsiung,
Lin CheHsin
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
electrophoresis
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.666
H-Index - 158
eISSN - 1522-2683
pISSN - 0173-0835
DOI - 10.1002/elps.200700630
Subject(s) - polystyrene , microfluidics , materials science , isotropy , plane (geometry) , flow (mathematics) , sample (material) , etching (microfabrication) , analytical chemistry (journal) , nanotechnology , optics , chromatography , chemistry , mechanics , polymer , physics , composite material , geometry , mathematics , layer (electronics)
Using a simple and reliable isotropic wet etching process, we fabricated a microflow cytometer in which cells/particles are concentrated in the center of the sample stream using a 2‐D hydrodynamic focusing technique and an microweir structure. Having focused the cells/particles, they are detected and counted using a LIF method. The experimental and numerical results confirm the effectiveness of the hydrodynamic sheath flows in squeezing the cells/particles into a narrow stream in the horizontal X – Y plane. Furthermore, it is shown numerically that the microweir structure results in the separation of the cells/particles in the vertical X – Z plane such that they pass through the detection region in a sequential fashion and can therefore be counted with a high degree of precision. The experimental results obtained using fluorescent polystyrene beads with diameters of 5 and 10 μm, respectively, confirm the suitability of the proposed device for microfluidic applications requiring the high‐precision counting of particles or cells within a sample flow.