Patent ID: 11925934
Assignee: GEORGIA TECH RESEARCH CORPORATION
Field: Measurement (Instruments)
Classification: CPC B  G | IPC B  G

Claim 0:
1. A method comprising:
providing a cell medium comprising cells to a microfluidic device comprising a microfluidic channel and an expansion region;
wherein the microfluidic channel comprises ridges and a wall, each of the ridges extending towards the wall and defining a compression gap between the ridge and the wall;
wherein each adjacent pair of the ridges is separated by a ridge spacing selected based on variations of a viscoelasticity of the cells; and
wherein the expansion region is disposed downstream from the ridges;

passing the cell medium through at least a portion of the microfluidic channel;
wherein the ridges affect an ability of the cells to pass through the compression gaps based on the viscoelasticity of the cells;
wherein, when the cells initially confront the ridges, the cells resist deformation through positive lateral displacement while squeezing through the compression gaps via compression;
wherein, after compression, more viscous cells remain deformed while less viscous cells relax while passing through the compression gaps; and
wherein a trajectory of the more viscous cells is dominated by a secondary flow while a trajectory of the less viscous cells is dominated by deformation energy due to compression as the less viscous cells pass through the compression gaps;

flowing the cell medium from the microfluidic channel to the expansion region in which the cells are not affected by the ridges, thereby hydrodynamic balancing a flow of the cell medium after the cell medium exits the microfluidic channel; and
collecting the cell medium downstream from the expansion region.