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Principles and Applications of Inertial Microfluidics

Eunseop Yeom (Pusan National University)

Analyst's Preface

Research is being conducted on the concentration and separation of particles and fluids through various channel designs

using inertial microfluidics. In general, the inertial force is ignored in microfluidics, but in the middle range of Reynolds number
(Re) from 1 to 100, it has a theoretical background that inertial microfluidics occurs between the Stokes region and the turbulent
flow region. In this range, both the inertia and the fluid viscosity have finite values, so that the driving force of the inertial

microfluidics device, such as inertial movement and secondary flow, can be derived. Since the inertial force can be maximized
with high processing capacity, inertial microfluidic devices are simple and inexpensive devices, but inertial microfluidic devices
are very useful for sample processing. In this analysis, starting from the basic mechanics of particles, we introduce the recently
developed concept of inertial microfluidics and deal with its applications in depth. Finally, particle control using fluid inertia inside

the microdevice is discussed [1].

Key words: Inertial microfluidics, Lift force, Drag Force, Inertial migration, Secondary flow, inertial microfluidics
Body mechanics, lift, drag, inertial movement, secondary flow

There are methods using external forces such as sound

1. Introduction
The science dealing with the behavior, control, and
fabrication of fluids on the order of 10–100 µm is called
microfluidics [2]. These microfluidics are called lab-on-a-
chip (LOC) or µTAS (micro total analysis systems) for
biomedical and chemical applications. These microfluidic-
based technologies have many advantages over existing
macroscale platforms such as centrifuges or flow cytometers
(small sample volume, rapid analysis, high sensitivity, low
price, portability and high availability). automation potential)
[3].
Sophisticated manipulations such as fabrication,
separation, and collection of bioparticles are essential
capabilities of microfluidics. For example, focusing and
sorting microparticles in three dimensions is essential for
the analysis and detection of single cells. In addition, it can
be applied to applications that separate particles according
to their biophysical properties (eg blood and lymphatic tissue
separation) [4]. Many techniques have been proposed
to control particles inside microfluidic systems. Among
these manipulation methods, active methods include charge, magnetism, movement is randomly distributed at the inlet.
waves and optical lasers, and passive methods using the
shape of microchannels and internal fluid dynamics. The
active method can control the target particle very precisely,
but the flow rate is limited because the external force field
must overcome the hydrodynamic force. On the other hand,
the passive method is simple and quick to operate, but
requires a relatively high
flow rate. Among these passive microfluidic
technologies, inertial-based microfluidic technology has
attracted great attention due to its simple structure and high
processing efficiency. However, in a microfluidic system,
the inertial force is very low (Stokes area; Reÿ0 Re=ÿfUH/ÿ
[density·velocity·representative channel length/dynamic viscosity]). Inertial microflu
It operates between the Stokes region and the turbulent
region (Reÿ2000). Flows such as inertial movement and
secondary flow occur due to inertial force. After the initial
observation, research was continued to determine how it
works. However, proper practical applications were not
proposed before microfluidic technology was developed.
The inertial

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A phenomenon in which particles move laterally in a straight Therefore, it can be divided into four areas [8].
channel and arrive at an equilibrium position from a

sufficiently large distance, observed more than 50 years (a) 10-4 < Re < 0.2
ago [5]. This phenomenon is caused by the shear gradient µv t
lift force ( FLS), which pushes particles from the center of
f drag = 12
a
the channel due to the curved velocity distribution, and the
wall-induced lift force (which pushes particles from the wall This region is the well-known Stokes drag
surface due to the interaction between the particles and the force. where vt is the relative velocity of the fluid to
wall). It is caused by the interaction between the wall lift the particle.
force ( FLW) . The equilibrium position of the two lift forces
is generally approximately 0.6 times the radius from the (b) 0.2 < Re < 500-1000
center of the channel in the case of a circular channel. ÿv t ) 0.678
f = 12 1+ 0.15
( Re drag
Secondary flow occurs when there is an obstruction in a a
curved or straight channel [6, 7]. Along the curvature of the

curved channel, inconsistency in the momentum of the fluid (c) 500-1000 < Re < 2×105
occurs at the center and near the wall, which induces a 2
0.22
drag
f=ÿv ft
pressure difference, resulting in secondary flow. The center

of the channel has a relatively high momentum compared

to the side closer to the channel wall, which causes dean
Khan and Richardson experimentally found that Re

vortex, which is a streamline rotating in two opposite

[ 8 ].
directions. These short vortices can control the inertial
equilibrium position by giving additional viscous resistance (1.81Re
ÿ

0.31 0.06 3.45 2

f drag
= 0.293 Re + ÿ v f t
)
to the particles, and help the particles reach the equilibrium
position faster due to the mixing effect [4]. In this
In inertial fluid dynamics, the viscous drag is caused by the
paper, we give a comprehensive introduction to the
difference in the axial velocity of the main flow between the fluid
structure and performance of recently developed inertial
and the suspended particles, and the two-dimensional flow due to
microfluidic channels, starting with a discussion of the basic
the channel curvature or disturbance structure.
mechanics of particles. In addition, we will present new
areas and development directions of inertial microfluidic dynamics.
2.2. diffusion

2. Basic Mechanics of Particle Behavior in Channels Brownian motion is a random motion that
occurs when particles suspended in a fluid collide
2.1. viscous resistance
with atoms or molecules of the fluid. According to
the Einstein-Smoluchowski theory, the mean square
Drag occurs when there is relative motion between
the fluid and the object. The drag force acting on a
distance that a particle spreads during the particle's

spherical particle is expressed by the following equation. time t is as follows [9].

2 2r = 6 Dt
= ×fdragdrag =
FS f ÿa
drag /4

Here, S is the cross-sectional area of the moving

where D is the diffusion coefficient. According
to the Stokes–Einstein equation, the diffusion
particle, a is the diameter of the particle, and fdrag is the
coefficient is
drag coefficient. These drag coefficients are the Reynolds number

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ÿ ÿ
One 3 ÿÿ

= ÿ×
FLR ÿa ÿf (u f up ) ÿ
kT 8
D
= 3ÿÿa
The direction of Magnus is the relative and angular velocity vectors.
ÿ

k is the Boltzmann constant (1.3806488×10-23 is vertical, and rotates at an angular velocity of actual ÿS .
ÿ

J·K-1 ), and T is the absolute temperature [9]. If particles The relative speed ÿ of the sphere is:
and flow systems move in microchannels, the Péclet
ÿÿ

number is introduced to account for diffusion by convection ÿ

ÿ ÿS=0.5
ÿ ÿ×
u f
[10].

The Magnus force is the result of pressure

LU differentials caused by asymmetric streamlines in a
Pe =
D rotating particle. The lift generated by these rotating bodies
is more important in internal flow.
where L is the representative length of the channel and U is the

representative velocity of the fluid. A large Péclet number indicates that 2.4. Saffman force
the motion of the particles due to the flow is large, while a small Péclet number

The Péclet number indicates that the movement of particles
due to diffusion is large. Diffusion is generally negligible in
inertial fluid dynamics.
2.3. Magnus force
Assume that a fixed cylinder rotates at a constant
angular velocity (ÿ) under the condition of inviscid flow
with a uniform U velocity and no slip occurs on the surface
of the cylinder. According to Bernoulli's law, the pressure
below the cylinder is greater than the pressure above it.
Therefore, the amount of cylinder lift per unit length is as
follows [11].
ÿ ÿÿ
The inertial movement of the particle is caused by
the presence of walls as well as the particle's inertia in the
parabolic velocity distribution. When there is no channel
wall, the velocity distribution is uniform and there is no
velocity gradient, so inertial movement does not occur.
Thus, the existence of the wall generates velocity gradients
and shear-induced particle rotation. And it induces
additional drag force by the wall on the particle. The lateral
force generated by this slip-shear motion is called the
Saffman force. The flow around the particle is disturbed
by the wall, which has a different inertial effect from the
particle in the infinite flow [11]. Using the matched
asymptotic expansion method, Saffman calculated the
lateral lift force of a particle under infinite flow conditions.

=
2
× The magnitude of this force is
F ÿa
LRÿfU ÿ

2
The lift of a sphere rotating in a stationary state, = ÿÿÿ
FK/S 4Va
( One

) 1/2

called Magnus lift, can be obtained as follows:

where K is a numerical constant (Kÿ81.2), ÿ is the

shear strain or ÿ is the kinetic viscosity, and V is the
relative velocity of the particle and the fluid. At this value,
ÿ ÿÿ
One 3
FLR = ×
ÿa ÿfU ÿ
8 force is generated regardless of the rotation of the particle,
but in reality, a difference in force for rotation occurs,
If the sphere is not stationary and moving, the which can cause errors. And the direction of the Saf fman
velocity of the sphere ( u ÿ ) and the velocity of the fluid ( ÿ ) force is always the direction in which the relative velocity
P uf
ÿÿ

Considered relative speed ( u u f Pÿ ) is entered. is maximized.

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2.5. wall induced lift degree becomes a

constant. And if d* >>1, the transversal velocity is

The velocity gradient caused by the existence of the wall Same as [13].

causes the Magnus force and the Saffman force to move the particle

in the transverse direction. In general, the impact of the wall retards 3 * *ÿ5/2
vZ =
ÿ

Re s v s(d 2 + 2.21901d +
...)
the horizontal and vertical movement of the particle and imposes a 16
transverse movement. When the particle is very small compared to

the size of the channel, the main role of the wall is to slow the particle This means that for a large d* , as d* goes to infinity, the

down and move it away from the wall. In addition, when the size of lateral speed gradually decreases and converges to zero.

the channel and the particle are similar, the movement of the particle

is severely inhibited [11]. First, when the size of the particle is very In addition, not only the lateral lift force, but also the effect of

small compared to the channel, the direction the wall increases the lift force. Therefore, when a/2lw<<1<<1/ Res,

of motion of the particle is parallel or perpendicular to the wall. the lift force by the wall is as follows [14].

When a particle moves perpendicularly to a wall, the particle's

movement is restrained by the wall. Brenner obtained the drag

ÿ 3 9 a ÿ
= 3
F dÿÿav 1 + Re + + ..
coefficient for a small particle moving towards a wall in a creeping S
ÿÿÿ
8 S l 32
ÿÿÿ
w
flow [12].

And when a/2lw<<1/Res<<1, the lift force by the wall is as

follows [13].

µv t
f a = 16 f 3/2
a ÿ 3 a One ÿ

=3
F dÿÿav S 1+ Re S
ÿ

ÿÿ ..
ÿ
0.095 ÿ ÿ ÿÿ+ ÿ

nn( v+t ) 8 l wRe

ÿ
One
S ÿÿ
f = sinh ÿ W ÿ ÿ ÿÿ ÿ ÿÿ

n1
= ( 2 1 2 3)(+ nn
ÿ

If the size of the particle and the size of the channel have the
2sinh 2 1+n )ÿ + +2n1 sinh
) 2 ( ÿW
× W
2 2
ÿ)ÿ)ÿ same number of digits in the bounding flow, the surrounding particles
2
+
ÿ ÿ ÿ 4sinh ( [(
n0
. 5 (ÿ) ] (ÿÿ

2 n1 sinh
) (ÿ W
W move to the center of the channel. To prevent the channel from

clogging, the occlusion factor ÿ (the ratio of the diameter of the

where ÿW=cosh-1 (2/ a) is a function of the size of the particle channel to the diameter of the particle) must be less than 1.

and the distance from the wall, and lw is the distance from the center

of the particle to the channel wall. This shows that the force increases

as the particle approaches the wall. 2.6. shear induced lift

If the particle moves parallel to the wall, the transversal force

acts to push the particle away from the wall. If d* <<1 (d* = ÿf lwÿs/ If the curvature of the undisturbed flow becomes zero, simple

ÿ), the transversal velocity is expressed as [12]. shear flow occurs. If the particle is slow compared to the flow, the

pressure is high on the wall side and moves the particle to the center

of the channel. However, in the Poiseuille flow, the Stokeslet

generated by the relatively slow shear flow of particles is equilibrated

3 ÿ *2 ÿ
vZ= Re s111
32
s64
ÿ
vÿd+ ... ÿ by the opposite Stokeslet generated by the velocity gradient. Since
ÿ ÿ
the velocity gradient is flatter toward the center of the channel and

larger at the walls, the shear-induced drag force increases as the

where VS is the settling velocity of the particles in the particle approaches the center.
stationary state. Transverse speed when the sphere is positioned near a wall

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This occurs and pushes the particles to the wall. viscosity [17].

Chan and Leal analyzed the drag force induced by

2.7. net inertia lift deformability when the droplet or bubble is not very close to the

wall [18].

A neutrally buoyant steel body in a straight Poiseuille flow

is subjected to four transverse forces in addition to the drag in the 2

F L, deformation = µ Ua (a/
( )Hd )d/ H f ÿ
flow direction: the Magnus force due to slip rotation, the Saffman

force due to slip shear, and the wall induced drag and velocity 16 ÿ
gradient due to flow disturbance. due to shear-induced drag. Of f ÿ( )d =
(ÿ d1 + )3

these, the Magnus force and

The Saffman force is so small that it is negligible. The shear-

ÿ 11 ÿ d10 + ÿ 3 19 ÿ d16 + ÿ
(3 3 ÿ +ÿ 8ddÿ 14
+ )
(2 ÿ ÿ 12dd
ÿÿ

)ÿ
induced drag force tends to move the particle toward the wall, and 140 3 ÿ d2 +
ÿ ÿ
the wall-induced drag force tends to move it toward the center of

the channel. The particle is located where these two forces are in
Here, d is the distance of the droplet from the center of the
equilibrium.
channel, and when ÿd < 1 or ÿd > 10, the deformability-induced
Asmolov used the coherent asymptotic expansion method
drag acts on the center of the channel.
to obtain the net inertial drag for a spherical particle that is very
By Di Carlo, the inertial lift force expression was derived
small compared to the channel in a Poiseuille flow [15].
when the particle is close to the center of the channel and d/H<0.1

[16].

FL= f ÿLU
f
a /2H4 2
center
F L, inertial = ÿ10 Rp Ua(d/
µ H)

where H is the hydraulic diameter ( H= D for round tube ,

If the deformability and inertial force of the droplet are very
H=2wh/(w+h) for square channel ; w: width, h: height). fL is the lift
small (Ca<0.01, Rp<0.01), the net lift force is empirically expressed
coefficient and is a function of the transverse position x and Re. In
by Stan et al. as follows [19].
the

case of finite particles (0.05 ÿ a/ H ÿ 0.2), flow disturbance may

3
occur due to particles. Di Carlo calculated the inertial lift force F L, empirical = m
CL Ua(a/ H ) (d/ H )
through finite element simulation [16].

where CL is experimentally determined as the lift coefficient

Should be. It has a size of ~31.25 CL .

2.8. Deformability induced lift
Deformative induced lift is applied to separate malaria-

affected and healthy red blood cells or otherwise cancer cells [20,
Biological particles such as cells and vesicles undergo
21]. Figure 1 shows the inertial force acting on a particle.
deformation within the channel. This deformation induces an

additional lift force on the particle. The lift caused by this

deformation is caused by the change in particle shape, the

nonlinearity of speed matching, and the stress at the particle

boundary [17]. To characterize this deformability, three

dimensionless numbers frequently used in droplet analysis are

used. Weber number (We=ÿfU2 a/ ÿ), capillary number (Ca=ÿUa/

ÿh), viscous modulus ratio (ÿd=ÿd/ ÿ) where ÿ is the surface tension

and ÿd is the inside of the droplet.

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Figure 1. Overview of particle dynamics in inertial microfluidics [1]

3
3. Recent inertial microfluidics H
×U
= 3ÿÿH
Lmin ÿ 3
2U L ÿ fUa
3.1. straight channel

Particles randomly distributed in a straight channel with a where UL is the lateral movement speed of the particle and

circular cross-section move laterally from the center of the channel As follows.

to a location 0.6 times the radius [5]. However, the case of

rectangular channels is a bit more complicated. In the case of a 3

square channel, the particles achieve an equilibrium position at U = FL = ÿ fUa

L 3
3ÿÿa 6 ÿÿH
the center of each face [22]. For low aspect ratios (height/width ÿ

0.5), the particle is located in the center of the channel width, about
And the size of the particle and the size of the channel
0.2H away from the wall

[23]. The minimum length (Lmin) required to reach the The Reynolds number considered is additionally considered.

equilibrium position when the particles move inertia within the

rectangular channel is derived based on the Stokes drag force as

2a _ ÿ fUa 2
follows. RP =Re=
H2 ÿH

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According to Squires and Quake, the magnitude of the

When Rp<<1, the particle mainly receives the drag velocity in a secondary flow can be inferred as

force due to viscosity. However, when Rp has a magnitude [27].

similar to 1, inertial drag dominates and the particles move
2
against the flow. Such a straight channel is UK ÿµ/ (Hÿ) D
used in various applications due to its simple shape.

Hur et al. isolated an enveloped progenitor from rat adrenal And approximately, the size of UD can be obtained as

digestive fluid in a channel with a high aspect ratio [24]. And follows [28].

Mach and Di Carlo isolated bacteria from diluted blood [25].

4 1.63
For high volume processing, 40 identically shaped straight U D= 1.8×10 × K ÿ
channels are arranged. Each channel was divided into
sections with three different cross-sections to control the When a particle flows through a curved channel, it

inertial lift force separating the particles. The authors experiences both inertial lift and secondary flow drag. In most

demonstrated that it can remove 80% of bacteria. Afterwards, cases, since the particle density is similar to that of a fluid, it

Zhou et al. modified the shape of the channel to have a low is possible to ignore the effect of the particle centrifugal force.

aspect ratio in two steps to increase the separation efficiency When the sign of the channel curvature is the same, the

of the particles [26]. channel has a spiral structure and the direction of the

secondary flow is constant. The equilibrium position of a

In general, using a straight channel has the advantage particle is related to its secondary flow drag. This drag force

that the channel shape is simple and can be operated easily. acts on all particles in the vortex rotating symmetrically. In

However, there is a problem in that the cross-sectional shape contrast, inertial lift tends to direct particles to a specific

of the channel is limited to provide sufficient lateral lift and location. Therefore, the ratio between the inertial lift force

increases flow resistance. and the Dean drag force (Rf=a3 R/ H4 ) determines the behavior of the particle.

When Rf goes to 0, the Dean drag force mainly acts

on the particles and secondary flow continues to occur. And

3.2. spiral channel when Rf goes to ÿ, the inertial lift force dominates, so the
particles are located in the equilibrium position regardless of

When a fluid flows through a curved channel, a the secondary flow [4]. In most cases, the equilibrium position
secondary flow occurs due to the velocity difference between due to the inertial lift force is controlled by the secondary flow
the center and the wall of the channel. The center of the at a moderate Rf . The

channel has a large inertia, and due to the centrifugal effect, sorting and separation of particles in spiral channels

a pressure gradient is generated at the cross section of the has been intensively performed by various groups. Among

channel, resulting in a flow that flows out of the curve. Due them, passive separation or alignment of particles or cells

to the pressure gradient at the center of the channel, the using inertial lift and secondary flow is frequently used in

fluid around the wall, which was relatively still, circulates these spiral channels. Bhagat et al. perfectly separated 7.32

inside, eventually forming two symmetrical vortices [4]. The ÿm and 1.9 ÿm polystyrene particles [29], and

secondary flow in the curved channel is affected by the Dean Kuntaegowdanahalli et al. separated 10, 15, and 20 ÿm
number and the Reynolds number. When the hydraulic beads with 90% efficiency [30]. In addition, this separation

diameter of the square tube is H and the radius of curvature ability is helpful for studies related to cell properties and cell

is R, the Dean number (K) is as follows [6]. division.

1/2
Cancer cells, known as malignant tumors, have the
K = H/
( 2R) Re
potential to invade or proliferate in other tissues in our body.

Metastasis of primary tumor cells is a major

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network is the cause [31]. During the process of
metastasis, cancer cells come out of the solid tumor
and enter the blood vessels to become circulating tumor
cells (CTCs). Such CTC analysis is known to be very
important for cancer treatment and diagnosis. Hou et al.
proposed a spiral channel to isolate CTCs from blood
[32]. The CTC separation device showed the
performance of separating CTCs without any abnormality
or deformation in a non-labeled and clogged method.
Figure 2(a) shows the passive double spiral channel
proposed by Sun et al. This device isolated cancer cells
(MCF-7 and HeLa cells) from diluted blood at an
efficiency of 3.33 × 107 cells per min [33]. Compared to
a single helix channel, it can transport particles with better efficiency.
It can be seen that they can be separated.
Guan et al. introduced a novel spiral channel with
a trapezoidal cross section and showed that this channel
has higher separation efficiency than a simple rectangular
channel [34]. They observed that the case of trapezoidal
cross section was more sensitive to the size and flow of
the particle, so that a distinct process of change
according to the size of the particle in the measured
flow rate appeared. [35] This device shed 7.5 ml of blood
for 8 minutes and showed the efficiency of removing all
10 CTCs contained in it.

Fig. 2 (a) Double spiral channel for separation of circulating tumor cells (CTC) from blood,
(b) spiral channel with trapezoidal cross-section for rapid separation of cancer cells [1].

3.3. Straight channels with columns and shrink-extension
arrangements
In addition to curved channels, convective
secondary flow is also generated by installing
disturbance obstacles in straight channels. This study
was initially proposed to increase the mixing efficiency.
Park et al. demonstrated that if a rectilinear channel
repeatedly contracts and expands, particles can be
three-dimensionally focused into a single streamline
[36]. At the entrance of the constriction region, centrifugal
force acts and two symmetrical vortices are generated
at the cross section of the channel. This contraction-expansion array (CEA) is supported.
By using the Nin channel, it is possible not only to focus
particles but also to separate multiple particles. Figure
3(a) shows that polystyrene beads with diameters of 4
ÿm and 10 ÿm are pipe-separated by generating a
secondary flow similar to a Dean vortex using this CEA
channel [37]. Particles of relatively large size are greatly
affected by this inertial lift force and move in the direction
of repeating expansion and contraction. On the other
hand, small-sized particles receive a lot of Dean drag
and move in the opposite direction. Using this concept,
it is possible to separate particles or cells of different
sizes.

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Figure 3 (a) inertial separation channel using contraction-expansion array, (b) inertial focusing channel using symmetric contraction-expansion arrangement,
and (c) inertial separation channel using circular column[1].

Even if these CEAs are made symmetrically,
secondary flows can be generated. Park et al. used
this symmetrical CEA to focus the particles in three
dimensions and created an orifice at the end of the
channel to show that the particles were focused in two
dimensions (Fig. 3(b)) [38]. It was confirmed that the
In addition to raising, research is also conducted to
generate horizontal micro-vortices in the contraction-
expansion chamber under high flow conditions. Shelby
et al. demonstrated horizontal microvortices for the
first time using diamond-shaped cavities [39]. The
rotation speed of these micro vortices is very fast,

focusing position of particles in this device changes about 12 m sÿ1 , and the radial acceleration has a
according to the particle Reynolds number Rp . When magnitude of 106 g . This rapid acceleration is effective
Rp is in the range of 0.8 to 2.3, the particles are located in promoting biochemical reactions. An optical tweezer

on both sides. However, when Rp is in the range of 3.0
to 3.5, it is located in the center of the channel. This
focusing characteristic is caused by the inertial drag
and inertial force caused by the mismatch between the
moving trajectories of the particles and the fluid in the
region where contraction and expansion occur. Such
a device is called multiorifice flow fractionation (MOFF).
Although this MOFF has many advantages, it has a
relatively low recovery yield. In order to improve these
disadvantages, many researchers are conducting
studies to improve this and isolate cells associated
with
diseases. When a secondary flow is generated in such a channel cross section
is also used to generate micro-vortices. Later, Di
Carlo's group introduced the concept of
centrifuge-on-a chip using this vortex trap ping and
inertial movement and used it to selectively separate
target particles [40]. This chip has a straight channel
section and a symmetrical CEA, and creates a cavity
expansion section to generate microvortices. Particles
focused in a straight channel circulate in a micro vortex
while transversely moving in an extended area. Here,
it is further developed to selectively trap particles and
apply it to blood and other biological samples to isolate
CTC or other malignant cells.

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are applying to In
addition to these expansion and contraction
chambers, microcolumns are inserted into the channels
to generate irreversible twisted flows. As shown in Fig.
3(c), the flow can be controlled in various ways by
adjusting the position of the continuous columns inside
the channel. Amini et al. efficiently separated particles
and flows using these complex shapes [41]. Nunes et al.
also fabricated non-circular particles using microchannels
with such pillars [42]. It has a great advantage because
it can produce various shapes by controlling the flow.
3.4. meandering channel
In a curved channel, the curvature is in one
direction. Therefore, after a certain length, the secondary
flow reaches a steady state. However, in the case of a
serpentine channel, the situation becomes complicated
because the curvature is constantly changing. When the
curvature changes, the secondary flow does not reach
the steady state after each rotation. Accumulation of
these abnormal states can lead to unpredictable particle
behavior.
Di Carlo et al studied the change in the inertial
movement of particles when the curvature changes [23].
The four equilibrium positions of the particles in the linear
channel changed to two symmetrical positions. threshold
Figure 4. Hybrid microfluidic system (inertial displacement, magnetophoresis) for the separation of CTCs from blood [1]
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It can be confirmed that convergence is disturbed when
the number of Dean is greater than that. In addition, in
the case of asymmetrical equilibrium, the position at
which equilibrium is reached becomes one position, and
it becomes more complicated as the number of Dean
increases. The forces acting on these are the inertial lift
force (FL) and the Dean drag force (FD), and the focusing
position of the particles varies according to the
relationship between these forces. If FL<<FD, particle
focusing does not occur. And in the case of FD<<FL ,
particle focusing similar to a straight channel is observed.
The relationship between the two forces is defined as FL/
FD=2R/H(a/H)3 Re n (n<0) as follows. It is proportional
to the third power of the particle and channel size.
Therefore, even with the same Reynolds number, small
particles are not focused regardless of the channel
length, and large particles are focused quickly. Based
on this concept, various channels and flow cytometry
systems for focusing particles have been proposed.
Figure 4 is a hybrid microfluidic device that uses both
inertial movement and magnetophoresis to separate
CTCs from blood. In this device, there is a circular
column arrangement to separate the smallest red blood
cells first, then the meandering channel allows the white
blood cells and CTC to flow and align them by inertial
movement, and then a strong magnetic field is applied to
the final channel to remove them. For this purpose, the CTC is magnetically lab
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In addition to these asymmetric meandering channels,
studies have been conducted to propose various focusing
characteristics using symmetric channels. These channels
not only have a mixing effect but also focus particles in the
center of the channel, enabling various applications and
high processing efficiency.
4. Analyst Conclusions and Prospects
In this analysis, Magnus, Saffman, shear-induced lift,
wall-induced lift, and deformability-induced lift, which act on
the particles inside the channel, were first summarized.
Recently, the shapes of channels used for particle collection
and separation were classified into four categories and
briefly introduced. It was found that these existing devices
can be applied to isolate various biochemically important
cells and show high efficiency. However, it is only in the
initial stage of research to be released as a commercial
product, and research should be continuously conducted
to apply it to more diverse applications.
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