High-yield blood plasma separation by modulating inertial migration in a contraction-expansion array microchannel

Abstract

We report contraction-expansion array (CEA) microchannels for high-yield blood plasma separation utilizing differential inertial migration. An abrupt change of the cross-sectional area curves fluid streams and accelerates the flow velocity, which induces Dean flow. Utilizing the balance between inertial lift force and Dean drag force, we were able to separate blood plasma from human whole blood with a level of 62.2% yield. The CEA microfluidic device is easy to fabricate in a single layer fabrication process and expected to be useful for a simple blood plasma extraction on a chip with high-yield.