A bio-magnetic bead separator on glass chips using semi-encapsulated spiral electromagnets

A new planar bio-magnetic bead separator on a glass chip has been designed, fabricated and tested. The separator is composed of micromachined semi-encapsulated spiral electromagnets and fluid channels, which are separately fabricated and then bonded. The device was tested with super-paramagnetic beads of mean diameter 0.83 /spl mu/m which were suspended in a buffered solution with solid concentration 10%. When a DC current of 300 mA was applied to the inductor, the bio-magnetic beads were successfully attached on the electromagnets, showing a functional capability as a magnetic bead separator. Using this separator, cells or cell fragments and magnetic beads bonded with protein or enzyme suspended in bio-buffer solutions can be successfully separated from their suspensions.