A Novel 3-Way Cell Sorter using Power Efficient Electrolysis-Based Actuator

In this paper, a novel 3-way cell sorter using a power efficient electrolysis based actuator and X-flexture joint arm is presented. The small scale 3-way cell sorter is widely used in the field of bio-separation, namely immunology and haematology. Three 3-way cell sorters are also used in drug testing and analysis to sort cells in three different directions. The proposed design offers superior performance in small scale sorting applications than the other previous techniques like charged plates, T-switch, dielectrophoresis, and fluorescence activated cell sorting (FACS). A power efficient electrolysis-based actuator using water which works efficiently with 3 to 4 V is used for low power operation. Two X-flexture joint arms with individual actuators are designed and connected with X-flexture joint springs to regain the original position. The X-flexture joint also avoids direct contact of the arm to top and bottom surfaces of the channels to prevent mechanical failure. Simulation results using ANSYSreg FEM tool are presented along with the proposed design with a 50 mumtimes50 mum cross-section fluidic channel that can be customized as required. The total area occupied by the proposed design is 700 mumtimes700 mum. The simulation results show efficient operation of the proposed design with 18 mm/minflow rate