High pressure inertial focusing for separating and concentrating bacteria at high throughput

• Inertial focusing is a promising microfluidic technology for concentration and separation of particles by size. However, there is a strong correlation of increased pressure with decreased particle size. Theory and experimental results for larger particles were used to scale down the phenomenon and find the conditions that focus 1 mu m particles. High pressure experiments in robust glass chips were used to demonstrate the alignment. We show how the technique works for 1 mu m spherical polystyrene particles and for Escherichia coli, not being harmful for the bacteria at 50 mu l min(-1). The potential to focus bacteria, simplicity of use and high throughput make this technology interesting for healthcare applications, where concentration and purification of a sample may be required as an initial step.

Subject headings

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Fysik -- Den kondenserade materiens fysik (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Physical Sciences -- Condensed Matter Physics (hsv//eng)

TEKNIK OCH TEKNOLOGIER  -- Materialteknik -- Annan materialteknik (hsv//swe)

ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY  -- Materials Engineering -- Other Materials Engineering (hsv//eng)

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Kemi -- Analytisk kemi (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Chemical Sciences -- Analytical Chemistry (hsv//eng)

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Kemi -- Fysikalisk kemi (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Chemical Sciences -- Physical Chemistry (hsv//eng)

Keyword

bacteria separation

particle separation

inertial focusing

high pressure

glass chips

PDMS

microfluidic channel

Publication and Content Type

ref (subject category)

art (subject category)