Continuous-Flow Separation of Malaria-Infected Human Erythrocytes Using DC Dielectrophoresis: An Electrokinetic Modeling and Simulation

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• 作者：Milad Nahavandi
• 刊名：Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research
• 出版年：2016
• 出版时间：May 18, 2016
• 年：2016
• 卷：55
• 期：19
• 页码：5484-5499
• 全文大小：1261K
• 年卷期：0
• ISSN：1520-5045

文摘

This paper presents a particle tracing numerical approach into direct current insulating dielectrophoretic (DC-iDEP) cell sorting using an innovative microfluidic device capable of continuously separating red blood cells infected in vitro by Plasmodium falciparum human–malaria parasites (Pf-iRBCs) from healthy red blood cells (h-RBCs), which is suitable for clinical diagnosis as well as biological and epidemiological research. The device operation is based on field flow fractionation (FFF) introduced by electrokinetic and DEP effects through the microchannel. After validation of numerical results with respective experimental data, a particle sorting model was developed to evaluate the simultaneous effects of channel geometry, applied voltage, and medium pH strength associated with the dynamic effects of electric and flow fields on separation performance. Computational investigations were performed on the basis of the proposed model and theoretical cell trajectory was calculated. Simulation results showed that RBCs with different dielectric responses perceived different dielectrophoretic force magnitudes while they were continuously pushed by electrophoretic force and the fluid stream generated by electroosmotic induced flow over the wall surface and were therefore focused to different streamlines in the microchannel. In addition, it was indicated that the pH of suspending medium substantially influenced the zeta potential and so an electric double layer (EDL) formed on the surface of the RBCs and the microchannel, which could widely change the electrokinetic movement of the cells. Results also showed that a perfect separation might be achieved at the pH and DC applied voltage of 5 and 13 V, respectively.