Micro-PIV Measurement on Transient Flows in Pneumatic MEMS Device for Cell Trapping

This paper presents a micro-PIV measurement for investigation of flow characteristics in a micro chamber for trapping of a live cell. The micro cell chip consisting of pneumatic vibrator arrays and a trap chamber was fabricated through a replica molding technology with a SU-8 mold and Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) polymer. The single cell in the trap chamber was manipulated and trapped in the equilibrium region by exploiting the geometrical symmetry of the vibrators. The x-axial velocity of the viscous fluid induced by the deformation of the flexible diaphragms was eliminated or minimized at the center of vibrators. From the measurement results, the proper operational conditions of the vibrators were determined and it is also verified that the particle can be actively manipulated and trapped as desired.