Sheathless inertial particle focusing methods within microfluidic devices: a review

Area of Science:

• Microfluidics
• Biotechnology
• Biomedical Engineering

Background:

• Particle manipulation in microfluidic devices is vital for biological, chemical, and medical research.
• Accurate, high-throughput particle focusing is essential for cell counting, biomolecular detection, sample sorting, and biosensor enhancement.
• While active and sheath-assisted methods require external energy, passive methods leverage fluid dynamics for efficient focusing.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review recent advancements in sheathless inertial microfluidic focusing techniques.
• To analyze inertial and elasto-inertial focusing methods based on channel structures.
• To predict future developments in microfluidic particle focusing technologies.

Main Methods:

• Review of sheathless inertial microfluidic focusing strategies.
• Emphasis on inertial focusing techniques.
• Analysis of elasto-inertial focusing techniques within different channel structures.

Main Results:

• Passive focusing methods achieve high-throughput particle manipulation without external actuation.
• Sheathless inertial and elasto-inertial techniques are key for biological sample manipulation.
• These methodologies provide benchmarks for microfluidic device design.

Conclusions:

• Sheathless inertial focusing offers a promising approach for advanced microfluidic applications.
• Further development in channel structure design will enhance microfluidic particle focusing.
• This review aids in understanding and designing effective microfluidic particle focusing devices.