Transport of solid particles in microfluidic channels

Transport of particles is commonly encountered in microfluidic channels that deal with solid-liquid two-phase flows in conjunction with particles and cells to focus, separate, sort, extract, and filter them. In particular, there is a resemblance between microscale flows and macroscale flows in the sense that the inertial migration of particles cannot be neglected. Thus, the objective of the present article is to review how studies on the transport of solid particles have evolved from classical fluid dynamics to up-to-date microfluidics in view of measurement techniques, flow characteristics, and applications.     

Reconstruction of the average ocean temperature from the measured travel times of sound pulses

An approximate formula expressing the variations of ray travel times in terms of range-averaged characteristics of temperature inhomogeneities is derived. This formula essentially reduces the underdetermination of the inverse problem, which appears in the reconstruction of climatic variations of the average ocean temperature from acoustic measurement data. The efficiency of the suggested approach is confirmed by numerical simulations.     

Pump-free transport of magnetic particles in microfluidic channels

The use of magnetic particles in microfluidic devices offers new possibilities and a new degree of freedom to sequential synthesis and preparative or analytical procedures in very small volumes. In contrast to most of the traditional approaches where the liquid phase is flushed or pumped along a solid phase, the transport of magnetic particles through a microfluidic channel has the advantage of reduced reagent consumption and simpler, smaller systems. By lining up different reservoirs along the transport direction, reactions with different agents can be accomplished. Here, we present a pump and valve-free microfluidic particle transport system. By creating a simple and very effective layout of soft magnetic structures, which concentrate an external homogeneous magnetic field, a passive, thus easy to operate structure was generated. Most importantly, this layout is based on a simple tube by which fluidic and magnetic parts are separated. The tube itself is disposable and can be replaced prior to vital reactions, thus helping reduce sample cross-contaminations without affecting the particle transport properties. The layout of the device was thoroughly examined by a computer simulation of the particle trajectories, and the results were confirmed by experiments on a micro-machined demonstrator, which revealed an effective transport speed of up to 5 mm/s in 30 mT magnetic fields. Thus, we present a microfluidic transport device that combines the advantages of magnetic particles in microfluidic systems with a simple single-use technology for, e.g., bioanalytical purposes.     

Geometry of locating sounds from differences in travel time: isodiachrons

Calling animals may be located from measurements of the differences in acoustic travel time at pairs of receivers. For inhomogeneous fields of speed, locations can be made with better accuracy when the location algorithm allows the speed to vary from path to path. A new geometrical shape, called an isodiachron, is described. It is the locus of points corresponding to a constant difference in travel time along straight paths between the animal and two receivers. Its properties allow an interpretation for locations when the speed differs from path to path. An algorithm has been developed for finding the location of calling animals by intersecting isodiachrons from data collected at pairs of receivers. When the sound speed field is spatially homogeneous, isodiachrons become hyperboloids. Unlike a hyperboloid that extends to infinity, an isodiachron is confined to a finite region of space when the speeds differ between the animal and each of two receivers. Its shape is significantly different than a hyperboloid for cases of practical interest. Isodiachrons can be used to better understand locations of calling animals and other sounds in the sea, Earth, and air.     

Spatial confinement of ultrasonic force fields in microfluidic channels

We demonstrate and investigate multiple localized ultrasonic manipulation functions in series in microfluidic chips. The manipulation functions are based on spatially separated and confined ultrasonic primary radiation force fields, obtained by local matching of the resonance condition of the microfluidic channel. The channel segments are remotely actuated by the use of frequency-specific external transducers with refracting wedges placed on top of the chips. The force field in each channel segment is characterized by the use of micrometer-resolution particle image velocimetry (micro-PIV). The confinement of the ultrasonic fields during single- or dual-segment actuation, as well as the cross-talk between two adjacent fields, is characterized and quantified. Our results show that the field confinement typically scales with the acoustic wavelength, and that the cross-talk is insignificant between adjacent fields. The goal is to define design strategies for implementing several spatially separated ultrasonic manipulation functions in series for use in advanced particle or cell handling and processing applications. One such proof-of-concept application is demonstrated, where flow-through-mode operation of a chip with flow splitting elements is used for two-dimensional pre-alignment and addressable merging of particle tracks.     

Determination of tip–sample interaction forces from measured dynamic force spectroscopy curves

The forces between a sharp tip and a sample are characteristic for different sample materials. A new method for quantifying the elastic tip–sample interaction forces from measured frequency vs. distance curves is presented. The dynamic force–spectroscopy curves investigated were obtained by dynamic force microscopy under ultrahigh vacuum (UHV) conditions for large vibration amplitudes with commercial levers/tips. The full non-linear force–distance relationship is deduced via a numerical algorithm, where the equation of motion describing the oscillation of the tip is solved explicitly. The elastic force distance dependence can be determined by fitting the results of a computer simulation to experimental frequency vs. distance data. The obtained force–distance curves can be compared quantitatively with theoretical models.     

Fabrication of three-dimensional microfluidic channels in glass by femtosecond pulses

Fabrication of three-dimensional microfluidic channels in glasses by water-assisted ablation with femtosecond laser pulses was investigated. The experimental results showed that formation of the photoinduced microchannels by femtosecond pulses depended on the incident laser power and the scanning speed. For the same scanning speed, the shape of cross-section of channels changed from ellipse to circle with increasing the laser power. Under the optimum condition of laser processing, we fabricated two layers of microfluidic channels with diameter of about 8 μm inside glass. The distance between two layers of microchannels was about 20 μm.     

Localization of Rayleigh waves in microfluidic channels with quadratic profile

Localization of Rayleigh waves due to mechanical loading of the substrate surface by a liquid layer with quadratic thickness variation in the transverse direction was theoretically studied. Under conditions typical of acoustic biochips, strong localization of the wave field was revealed. This makes it possible to calculate the lowest waveguide modes of the microfluidic channel, neglecting its finite width.     

Effect of pH waves on capacitive charging in microfluidic flow channels

Novel energy-efficient desalination techniques, such as capacitive deionization (CDI), are a key element for the future of the fresh water supply, which is increasingly under stress due to the ever-growing world population and ongoing climate changes. CDI is a desalination technique where salt ions are removed from a flow channel by the application of an electrical potential difference across this channel and are stored in electrical double layers. The aim of this work is to visualize and explain the charging process of CDI using a new microfluidic approach. Namely, we implement the geometry of CDI on a chip and visualize the ion distributions in the channel using fluorescence microscopy. In contrast to normal CDI, our system was operated in the absence of flow, using non-porous electrodes. By using two pH-sensitive fluorescence dyes, we found the formation of pH waves across the channel, even though the system is operated at low potential differences in order to suppress Faradaic reactions, such as water splitting. From simulations of the transport process, we found that a small current density in the order of 0.1 A m^?2 can trigger the formation of such pH waves. CDI generally benefits from large electrode areas relative to the channel cross section. However, this large area ratio will also increase the magnitude of these waves, which might lead to a reduction in desalination efficiency.     

Investigating passive immunodiffusion reactions in the channels of a microfluidic device

The passive immunodiffusion reaction in a microfluidic system is investigated via the interaction between fluorescein human albumin conjugate and monoclonal antibodies. The topology of a microfluidic device suitable for this reaction was designed, and the device was fabricated using LIGA technology. A system for transitioning from the macro- to the microlevel is developed and produced. The dissociation constants and specificity of interaction in complexes formed as a result of the reaction between fluorescein human albumin conjugates and monoclonal antibodies are determined. The results from our study reveal that systems based on combinations of passive immunodiffusion reactions and microfluidic technologies are applicable for detecting antigens and antibodies in the analyzed fluids.     

Damage detection in beams using vibratory power estimated from the measured accelerations

While there have been several analytical studies to estimate the vibratory power of damaged structures, only a few attempts have been tried to identify the damage for practical implementations. In order to understand the characteristics of the vibratory power in damaged structures, it is necessary to trace the time histories of the instantaneous power in the vicinity of the damage. The spatial distribution of the vibratory power should also be investigated, and a proper damage index is required to diagnose the damage. In this paper, a practicable local damage detection method is proposed using the vibratory power estimated from the accelerations measured on the damaged beam structure. A new damage index is defined based on the proposed damage detection method and is applied to identify the structural damage. Numerical simulation and experiment are carried out on a beam to confirm the validity of the proposed method. In the experiments, the damage considered as an open crack such as slit inflicted on the top surface of the beam. Changes in the vibratory power of the damaged beam are investigated, and the results show that the proposed method identifies successfully the structural damage in the beam.     

Crack detection in structures using deviation from normal distribution of measured vibration responses

Cracks are one of the common defects in structural components that may ultimately lead to failure of structures if not detected. Generally, most of the vibration based crack detection methods transform measured vibration responses from time-domain into frequency-domain using Fourier or wavelet transform for damage detection. However, it would be more convenient if the vibration responses could be analysed in their original time-domain. Therefore, a practical method based on probability distribution function is proposed which performs all the data processing in time-domain for the purpose of crack detection in beam-like structures. The application of the proposed method to both numerical and experimental examples and their results are presented.     

Time-bin-encoding-based remote states generation of nitrogen-vacancy centers through noisy channels

We design proposals to generate a remote Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger(GHZ) state and a W state of nitrogenvacancy(NV) centers coupled to microtoroidal resonators(MTRs) through noisy channels by utilizing time-bin encoding processes and fast-optical-switch-based polarization rotation operations.The polarization and phase noise induced by noisy channels generally affect the time of state generation but not its success probability and fidelity.Besides,the above proposals can be generalized to n-qubit between two or among n remote nodes with success probability unity under ideal conditions.Furthennore,the proposals are robust for regular noise-changeable channels for the n-node case.This method is also useful in other remote quantum information processing tasks through noisy channels.     

Diffraction detection of sucrose by electrophoresis in a microfluidic chip

Based on the change of diffraction pattern, a microfluidic chip electrophoresis detection system is developed. Using tris(hydroxymethyl)aminomethane (Tris) of 10 mmol/l as buffer and sucrose solutions (with concentration of 0.054, 0.1725, 0.24775 and 0.2975 g/ml respectively) as samples, quantity as tiny as 55 pl (pico-liter) of sucrose solution in the microfluidic chip (with a channel diameter of 60 μm) is detected successfully with an unfocused He-Ne laser beam (633 nm, 1 mW). The experiment is simple and the detection result is obvious. PACS  42.25.Fx; 82.45.h; 42.66.Lc     

Dynamic micro-Hall detection of superparamagnetic beads in a microfluidic channel

We report integration of an InAs quantum well micro-Hall magnetic sensor with microfluidics and real-time detection of moving superparamagnetic beads. Beads moving within and around the Hall cross area result in positive and negative Hall voltage signals, respectively. Relative magnitudes and polarities of the signals measured for a random distribution of immobilized beads over the sensor are in good agreement with calculated values and explain consistently the shape of the dynamic signal.     

Microcomputer processing of the measured data: Least-squares smoothing and differentiation of curves

The Savitzky-Golay convolution algorithm for least-squares smoothing and differentiation of the one-dimensional data turns out to be suitable for microprocessor applications. Simple criteria are presented for a choice of the filter parameters depending on the spectrum-like signal properties together with the factors correcting for the changes in the net signal due to filtering.     

远程地下水COD在线检测仪设计

目前,我国在地下水水质检测领域,以人工现场采样、实验室仪器分析为主要方式,存在采样误差大、检测周期长、操作繁杂、不能及时反映水体受污染变化状况等缺陷,难以满足水质环境监测发展的需求。鉴于此,设计了一种基于紫外-分光光度法自动抽取水样及清洗的远程在线地下水水质COD(化学需氧量)检测仪。该仪器主要由远程终端、远程数据接收发送模块、水质COD检测模块和水样抽取清洗模块四部分组成。远程终端发送信号,由远程数据接收发送模块接收后,控制水质COD检测模块和水样抽取清洗模块动作,检测后的数据经处理后再由远程数据接收发送模块发回至远程终端。实验结果表明,该仪器可实现远程控制且检测时长可在20min内完成,能有效的检测地下水水质COD浓度,分辨率达到1mg·L-1,具有良好的灵敏度,准确性和重复性,适用于绝大多数浊度较低的地下水在线监测。     

Quantum improvement of time transfer between remote clocks

Exchanging light pulses to perform accurate space-time positioning is a paradigmatic issue of physics. It is ultimately limited by the quantum nature of light, which introduces fluctuations in the optical measurements and leads to the so-called standard quantum limit (SQL). We propose a new scheme combining homodyne detection and mode-locked femtosecond lasers that lead to a new SQL in time transfer, potentially reaching the yoctosecond range (10(-21)-10(-24) s). We demonstrate that this already very low SQL can be overcome using appropriately multimode squeezed light. Benefitting from the large number of photons and from the optimal choice of both the detection strategy and of the quantum resource, the proposed scheme represents a significant potential improvement in space-time positioning.