Patent ID: 8778160

Claim:
A microfluidic particle sorting apparatus comprising a separation chamber, said separation chamber comprising: a sample flow channel having a sample fluid inlet, a sample fluid outlet, a sample flow channel top wall, a sample flow channel bottom wall, and sample flow channel side walls, a side channel having a side channel fluid inlet and a side channel fluid outlet, a side channel top wall, a side channel bottom wall, and side channel side walls and configured to carry fluid and particles away from a flow path of the sample flow channel to the side channel outlet of the side channel, and a first pair of adjacent, coplanar, electrically coupled, electrodes separated by a gap having a gap distance wherein: the first pair of electrodes form a part of either the sample flow channel top wall or the sample flow channel bottom wall of the sample flow channel and form an angle θ relative to a flow of fluid from the sample fluid inlet of the sample flow channel to the sample fluid outlet of the sample flow channel, an opening between the sample flow channel and the side channel overlaps at least a portion of the gap between the first pair of electrodes.