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US 2002/0160518 A1Published application
Microfluidic sedimentation
OwnerJon W. Hayenga, C. Frederick Battrell +4inventors
InventorsJon W. Hayenga, C. Frederick Battrell, Bernhard H. Weigl, Christopher J. Morris, Patrick Saltsman, Gerald L. Klein
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Abstract
A device for promoting sedimentation within microfluidic channels which uses gravity to separate particles from fluid. Particles such as blood cells or beads are separated from a carrier fluid using gravity combined with various devices such as membranes and sonic energy in different embodiments.
Claims6
A microfluidic device comprising:
- a microfluidic structure having an inlet and a sedimentation region;
- a fluid containing particles having a density different from that of said fluid;
- and means for moving said fluid through said inlet into said sedimentation region such that a concentration gradient of said particle is established across the vertical dimension of said sedimentation region.
A microfluidic device, comprising:
- a microfluidic channel having a depth and a width, and an inlet and a first and a second outlet,
- with first outlet placed higher than said second outlet with respect to the vertical axis of said microfluidic channel;
- and a fluid containing particles that have a different density from the fluid flowing through said channel such that said particles exit said channel preferentially through said first or said second outlet.
A microfluidic device, comprising:
- a first channel and a second channel;
- means for preventing solid material from moving from said first channel to said second channel, said means being located between said first channel and said second channel to form a collection of solid particles located in said first channel;
- and means for moving a fluid through said first and said second channel such that said fluid interacts with said particles located in said first channel.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.