Improving the Efficiency of Microfluidic devices through Voltage Optimization

This phenomenon causes a voltage potential to move water from one point to another without any mechanical parts. A valuable secondary effect is an increasing resistance to solid particles as the field grows. This has a greater effect on more eccentric shapes and our circuit used this property to isolate cancer cells from healthy cells.

The focus of this project was to develop a circuit maximizing the electrophoresis effect at lower voltage levels. The voltage was optimized to selectively filter cancer cells without rupturing any cells.

At the micro-scale fluids behave very differently, leading to unique engineering challenges. These challenges include the increased effect of certain forces such as capillary action and electrophoresis. On the other hand, working at these small scales allows us to create circuits that can function on much smaller sample sizes.

In the medical field these circuits can be used as filters for certain cells, separating cancer from healthy, or white blood cells from red. We can then collect the cells that pass through continuously or lower the field to collect a much higher concentration of the blocked cells. This isolation of cells has applications in many areas of cellular biology.