Automatic mixing of highly viscous bio-samples

Automatic mixing of highly viscous bio-samples using micro-channel and centrifugation is considered. Existing methods for mixing bio-samples for life science applications use micro-well and micro-stirrer which are ineffective for highly viscous materials at the microliter or nanoliter level. Our method mixes viscous bio-samples in micro-capsules using micro-channels and centrifugation. To understand the mixing process, the design of the micro-capsule along with the micro-channel is presented. Reynolds numbers of bio-samples critical to the flow of viscous materials in the micro-channel are calculated based on which the performance of the mixing process is analyzed. Finally, experiment results of mixing monoolein with water are presented. In each trial, X-ray diffraction is used to evaluate the results which confirm that the proposed approach is valid, and reveal the times of mixing necessary for a homogenous result.