Helical Dielectrophoretic Particle Separator Fabricated by Conformal Spindle Printing

Nicolas Guérin, Martin Lévesque, Daniel Therriault

Laboratory for Multiscale Mechanics, Mechanical Engineering Department, école Polytechnique de Montréal, Montréal, Canada.

DOI: 10.4236/jbise.2014.79064                

Abstract

This paper reports the fabrication and testing of a helical cell separator that uses insulator-based dielectrophoresis as the driving force of its separation. The helical channel shape’s main advantage is its constant curvature radius which generates a constant electric field gradient. The presented separator was fabricated by extruding a sacrificial ink on rotating spindles using a computer-controlled robot. After being assembled, connected to the reservoir and encapsulated in epoxy resin, the ink was removed to create a helical microchannel. The resulting device was tested by circulating polystyrene microbeads of 4 and 10 μm diameter through its channel using a voltage of 900 VDC. The particles were separated with efficiencies of 94.0% and 92.5%, respectively. However, roughness in some parts of the channel and connections that had larger diameters compared to the channel created local electric field gradients which, doubtless, hindered separation. It is a promising device that could lead the way toward portable and affordable medical devices.

Keywords

Conformal Printing, Dielectrophoresis, Particle Separator, Helix

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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