Numerical Investigation on Dielectrophoresis Blood Cell Separation for Different Applied Voltage and Red Blood Cell Size

Dielectrophoresis (DEP) is a recent technique used to determine the electrical characteristics of the cells, which are then analyzed and exploited for the manipulation and the selection of target cells from a mixture. Each blood components have its unique role and function, thus to separate it is the crucial process of examination. Dielectrophoresis is a technique in which a force is exerted on a dielectric particle when it is subjected to a non-uniform electric field and the particles have not necessarily been to be charged. This paper aims to investigate the dielectrophoresis method for the separation of the blood cells. A microchannel is designed with two inlets and two outlets. At first, blood is penetrated to the inlet and then it appears in the microchannel where it experiences a non-uniform electric field and thus separation of blood cells occurs. Newton's second law is used as the governing equation to determine the particle trajectory during the filtration process which includes drag force, Brownian force and DEP force. The governing equation is solved by the finite element method (FEM). Transient analysis has been done up to 3 seconds. Three different voltage 3, 5 and 7V have been used and the diameter of the red blood cells is varied as 3, 5 and 8 micrometers. The results of these investigations are shown via blood cell trajectory during the filtration process for 3 different voltage and red blood cell diameter with time. Variation of voltage, pressure and velocity profile with microchannel length have also been presented. The computational results show that the best efficient separation occurs in the case of 5V applied voltage and 5 micrometer diameter based red blood cells. These results will aid surgeons and physicians while performing dielectrophoresis based on blood cell separation.