Cfd Research Corporation

Jianjun Feng

Sivaramakrishnan Krishnamoorthy

Guiren Wang

Kapil Pant

Shivshankar Sundaram

Yi Wang

Vinod B Makhijani

Shankar Sundaram

Peter Storm

A micropump that pumps liquid using electrothermally-induced flow is described, along with a corresponding self-regulating pump and infusion pump. The micropump has applications in microfluidic systems, such as biochips. The self-regulating infusion pump is useful for administration of large and small volumes of liquids such as drugs to patients and can be designed for a wide range of flow rates by combining multiple micropumps in one infusion pump system. The micropump uses electrode sequences on opposing surfaces of a flow chamber that are staggered with respect to each other. The opposing surfaces include staggered electrodes that have the same phase and same electrode sequence. As such electrodes with the same phase are staggered and not eclipsed.

Miniaturized electrothermal flow induced infusion pump

A micropump that pumps liquid using electrothermally-induced flow is described, along with a corresponding self-regulating pump and infusion pump. The micropump has applications in microfluidic systems such as biochips. The self-regulating infusion pump is useful for the administration of large and small volumes of liquids such as drugs to patients and can be designed for a wide range of flow rates by combining multiple micropumps in one infusion pump system.

Methods and apparatus for the micro-scale, dielectrophoretic separation of particles are provided. Fluid suspensions of particles are sorted and separated by dielectrophoretic separation chambers that have at least two consecutive, electrically coupled planar electrodes separated by a gap in a fluid flow channel. The gap distance as well as applied potential can be used to control the dielectrophoretic forces generated. Using consecutive, electrically coupled electrodes rather than electrically coupled opposing electrodes facilitates higher flow volumes and rates. The methods and apparatus can be used, for example, to sort living, damaged, diseased, and/or dead cells and functionalized or ligand-bound polymer beads for subsequent identification and/or analysis.

Method and apparatus for separating particles by dielectrophoresis

The present invention is an ultrasonic thrombectomy catheter that produces physical forces (shear rates) strong enough to emulsify obstructions such as thrombi and emboli without causing damage to arterial walls. This is accomplished by properly arranging piezoelectric transducers within a catheter and a tubular catheter head separated by a gap to generate acoustic streaming that simultaneously emulsifies the obstruction and sweeps resulting debris into a catheter lumen for removal. The open gap may be formed by supporting struts that connect the catheter to the catheter head. The design of the catheter tip allows the fabrication of catheters capable of removing partial or complete blockages from arteries and other vessels having diameters as small as 2 mm.

Thrombectomy microcatheter

Apparatus and methods are disclosed for mixing and self-cleaning elements in microfluidic systems based on electrothermally induced fluid flow. The apparatus and methods provide for the control of fluid flow in and between components in a microfluidic system to cause the removal of unwanted liquids and particulates or mixing of liquids. The geometry and position of electrodes is adjusted to generate a temperature gradient in the liquid, thereby causing a non-uniform distribution of dielectric properties within the liquid. The dielectric non-uniformity produces a body force and flow in the solution, which is controlled by element and electrode geometries, electrode placement, and the frequency and waveform of the applied voltage.

Self-cleaning and mixing microfluidic elements

The present invention is an electrostatic collector for low cost, high throughput, high efficiency sampling and concentration of bioaerosols. The device is small enough to be portable and can be contained within or placed on the wall of a typical office or hospital building. The collector comprises one or more collector modules, each having an ionizing electrode, a conical outer electrode, a wet collection electrode, and a liquid collection system. Airflow through a collector module may be partially blocked to enhance the collection of smaller particles and the collection electrode may comprise multiple, programmable electrodes to focus particle deposition onto a smaller area. Particles are collected into a small volume of liquid to facilitate subsequent analysis by an attached analyzer or at a remote site.

Electrostatic sampler and method

A method and system for controlling flow motion in a channel/cavity in a microfluidic system includes positioning at least one pair of electrodes in and/or proximate to the channel/cavity. A buffer solution is placed in the channel/cavity, the buffer solution having at least one dielectric property that varies in response to changes in temperature of the solution. An AC/DC voltage is applied to the electrodes to generate an electric field in the channel/cavity; the AC voltage having a known magnitude and frequency and the DC voltage having a known magnitude. The magnitude of the AC/DC voltage is adjusted to cause Joule heating of the buffer solution in the channel/cavity. The geometry and position of the electrodes is adjusted to generate a temperature gradient in the buffer solution, thereby causing a non-uniform distribution of the dielectric property within the solution in the channel/cavity. The dielectric non-uniformity produces a body force and flow in the solution. Also, the frequency of the AC voltage is adjusted to generate flow of the buffer solution in the channel/cavity in response to the non-uniform distribution of the dielectric property.

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Cincinnati, OH, United States of America

Jianjun Feng