A microfluidic device to sort capsules by deformability: A numerical study

Abstract

Guided by extensive numerical simulations, we propose a microfluidic device that can sort elastic capsules by their deformability. The device consists of a duct embedded with a semi-cylindrical obstacle, and a diffuser which further enhances the sorting capability. We demonstrate that the device can operate reasonably well under changes in the initial position of the the capsule. The efficiency of the device remains essentially unaltered under small changes of the obstacle shape (from semi-circular to semi-elliptic cross-section). Confinement along the direction perpendicular to the plane of the device increases its efficiency. This work is the first numerical study of cell sorting by a realistic microfluidic device.

preprint, 7 pages 6 figures

References in corpus (1)

• Mechanism of margination in confined flows of blood and other multicomponent suspensions

Cited by in corpus (10)

• Deformability-based red blood cell separation in deterministic lateral displacement devices - a simulation study
• Inertial migration of spherical and oblate particles in straight ducts
• An efficient mass-preserving interface-correction level set/ghost fluid method for droplet suspensions under depletion forces
• A pancake droplet translating in a Hele-Shaw cell: lubrication film and flow field
• The motion of a deforming capsule through a corner
• Deformation and sorting of capsules in a T-junction
• Numerical simulations of elastic capsules with nucleus in shear flow
• Transport of nano-objects in narrow channels: influence of Brownian diffusion, confinement and particle nature
• Active buckling of pressurized spherical shells : Monte Carlo Simulation
• Cross-stream migration of a vesicle in vortical flows