• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
• /
• 2008.11b
• /
• pp.2658-2663
• /
• 2008

In the present study, we designed a microfluidic flatform that generates monodisperse droplets with diameters ranging from hundreds of nanometers to several micrometers. To generate fine droplets, T-junction and flow-focusing geometry are integrated into the microfluidic channel. Relatively large aqueous droplets are generated at the upstream T-junction and transported toward the flow-focusing geometry, where each droplet is broken up into the targeted size by the action of viscous stresses. Because the droplet prior to rupture blocks the straight channel that leads to the flow-focusing geometry, it moves very slowly by the pressure difference applied between the advancing and receding regions of the moving droplet. This configuration enables very low flow rate of inner fluid and higher flow rate ratio between inner and outer fluids at the flow-focusing region. It is shown that the present microfluidic device can generate droplets with diameters about 1 micrometer size and standard deviation less than 3%.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Visualization
• /
• v.9 no.2
• /
• pp.21-26
• /
• 2011

Hydrodynamic focusing technique to generate focused flow has been used for flow cytometry in microfluidic devices. However, devices with circular capillary tubes made of glass are not suitable for flow visualization or optical signal detection because the rays of light are distorted at the curved interface. We devised a new acrylic chamber assembled with a pulled micropipette and a rectangular microchannel made of glass. This new channel geometry enabled us to visualize the three-dimensional (3D) flow characteristics with confocal imaging technique. We analyzed the 3D hydrodynamic focusing in a circular capillary tube and a rectangular microchannel over a practical range of flow rates, viscosities and pressure drops.

• 한국전산유체공학회:학술대회논문집
• /
• 2008.03b
• /
• pp.581-584
• /
• 2008

A generation of a particle beam is the key technique in a flow cytometry that measures the fluorescence and light scattering of individual cell and other particulate or molecular analytes in biomedical research. Recent methods performing this function require a laborious and time-consuming assembly. In the present work, we propose a novel device for the generation of an axisymmetrical focusing beam of microparticles (3-D focusing) in a single capillary without sheath flows. This work uses the concept that the particles migrate toward the centerline of the channel when they lag behind the parabolic velocity profile. Particle focusing of spherical particles was successfully made with a beam diameter of about 10 ${\mu}$m. Proposed device provides crucial solutions for simple and innovative 3-D particle focusing method for the applications to the MEMS-based micro-flow cytometry. We believe that this device can be utilized in a wide variety of applications, such as biomedical/ biochemical engineering.

• JSTS:Journal of Semiconductor Technology and Science
• /
• v.1 no.4
• /
• pp.239-247
• /
• 2001

The Fluorescence-Activated Cell Sorter (FACS) is a well-established instrument used for identifying, enumerating, classifying and sorting cells by their physical and optical characteristics. For a miniaturized FACS device, a disposable plastic microchip has been developed which has a hydrodynamic focusing chamber using soft lithography. As the characteristics of the spatially confined sample stream have an effect on sample throughput, detection efficiency, and the accuracy of cell sorting, systematic fluid dynamic studies are required. Flow visualization is conducted with a laser scanning confocal microscopy (LSCM), and three-dimensional flow structure of the focused sample stream is reconstructed from 2D slices acquired at $1\mutextrm{m}$ intervals in depth. It was observed that the flow structure in the focusing chamber is skewed by unsymmetrical velocity profile arising from trapezoidal cross section of the microchannel. For a quantitative analysis of a microscopic flow structure, Confocal Micro-PIV system has been developed to evaluate the accelerated flow field in the focusing chamber. This study proposes a method which defines the depth of the measurement volume using a detection pinhole. The trajectories of red blood cells (RBCs) and their interactions with surrounding flow field in the squeezed sample stream are evaluated to find optimal shape of the focusing chamber and fluid manipulation scheme for stable cell transporting, efficient detection, and sorting

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Precision Engineering Conference
• /
• 2013.05a
• /
• pp.575-576
• /
• 2013

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
• /
• v.33 no.3
• /
• pp.261-264
• /
• 2009

We present a three-dimensional (3D) particle focusing channel using the positive dielectrophoresis (pDEP) guided by a dielectric structure between two planar electrodes. The dielectric structure between two planar electrodes induces the maximum electric field at the center of the microchannel, and particles are focused to the center of the microchannel by pDEP as they flow from the single sample injection port. Compared to the previous 3D particle focusing methods, the present device achieves the simple and effective particle focusing function without any additional fluidic ports and top electrodes. In the experimental study, approximately 90 % focusing efficiency were achieved within the focusing length of 2mm, on both x-z plane (top-view) and y-z plane (side-view) for $2{\mu}m$-diameter polystyrene (PS) bead at the applied voltage over 15 Vp-p (square wave) and at the flow rate below 0.01 ${\mu}l$/min. The present 3D particle focusing channel results in a simple particle focusing method suitable for use in integrated microbiochemical analysis system.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
• /
• v.34 no.7
• /
• pp.671-677
• /
• 2010

In the present study, we designed a microfluidic platform for generating monodisperse droplets with diameters ranging from hundreds of nanometers to several micrometers. To generate fine droplets, T-junction and flow-focusing geometry are integrated into the microfluidic channel. Relatively large aqueous droplets are generated at the upstream T-junction and transported to the flow-focusing geometry, where each droplet is broken into smaller droplets of the desired size by the action of pressure and viscous stress. In this configuration, the flow rate of the inner fluid can be made very low, and the ratio of the inner- and outer-fluid flow rates in the flow-focusing region can be made very high. It has been shown that the present microfluidic device can generate droplets with diameters of approximately $1\;{\mu}m$ (standard deviation: <3%).

• Korea-Australia Rheology Journal
• /
• v.19 no.3
• /
• pp.157-164
• /
• 2007

Microencapsulation of cells within microfluidic devices enables explicit control of the membrane thickness or cell density, resulting in improved viability of the transplanted cells within an aggressive immune system. In this study, living cells (3T3 and L929 fibroblast cells) are encapsulated within a semi-permeable membrane (calcium crosslinked alginate gel) in two different device designs, a flow focusing and a core-annular flow focusing geometry. These two device designs produce a bead and a long microfibre, respectively. For the alginate bead, an alginate aqueous solution incorporating cells flows through a flow focusing channel and an alginate droplet is formed from the balance of interfacial forces and viscous drag forces resulting from the continuous (oil) phase flowing past the alginate solution. It immediately reacts with an adjacent $CaCl_2$ drop that is extruded into the main flow channel by another flow focusing channel downstream of the site of alginate drop creation. Depending on the flow conditions, monodisperse microbeads of sizes ranging from $50-200\;{\mu}m$ can be produced. In the case of the microfibre, the alginate solution with cells is extruded into a continuous phase of $CaCl_2$ solution. The diameter of alginate fibres produced via this technique can be tightly controlled by changing both flow rates. Cell viability in both forms of alginate encapsulant was confirmed by a LIVE/DEAD cell assay for periods of up to 24 hours post encapsulation.

• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
• /
• 2002.08a
• /
• pp.169-172
• /
• 2002

When a plane shockwave reflects ken a concave wall, it is focused at a certain location, resulting in extremely high local pressure and temperature. This focusing is due to a nonlinear phenomenon of shock wave. The focusing phenomenon has been extensively applied to many diverse folds of engineering and medical treatment as well. In the current study, the focusing of shock wave over a reflector is numerically investigated using a CFD method. The Harten-Yee total variation diminishing (TVD) scheme is used to solve the unsteady, two-dimensional, compressible, Euler equations. The incident shock wave Mach number $M_{s}\;of\;1.1{\~}l.3$ is applied to the parabolic reflectors with several different depths. Detailed focusing characteristics of the shock wave are investigated in terms of peak pressure, gasdynamic and geometrical foci. The results obtained are compared with the previous experimental results. The results obtained show that the peak pressure of shock wave focusing and its location strongly depend on the magnitude of the incident shock wave and depth of parabolic reflector. It is also found that depending up on the depth of parabolic reflector, the weak shock wave focusing process can classified into three distinct patterns : the reflected shock waves do not intersect each other before and after focusing, the reflected shock waves do not intersect each other before focusing, but intersect after focusing, and the reflected shock waves intersect each other before and after focusing. The predicted Schlieren images represent the measured shock wave focusing with a good accuracy.

• Journal of the Korea Institute of Military Science and Technology
• /
• v.22 no.6
• /
• pp.763-772
• /
• 2019

There is a need to use sheath flow nozzle to detect bioaerosol such as virus and bacteria due to their characteristics. In order to enhance the detection performance depending on nozzle parameters, numerical analysis was carried out using a commercial code, ANSYS CFX. Eulerian-lagrangian approach method is used in this simulation. Multiphase flow characteristics between primary fluid and solid were considered. The detection performance was evaluated based on the results of flow field in nozzle chamber such as focusing efficiency and swirl strength. In addition, Latin hypercube sampling(LHS) of design of experiment(DOE) was used for generating a near-random sampling. Then, the acceleration section is optimized using response surface method(RSM). Results show that the optimized model achieved a 6.13 % in a focusing efficiency and 11.47 % increase in swirl strength over the reference model.