Creating a microfluidic chip device capable of centering and adjusting flow speed for use in cell sorting

Project Overview

The Skala lab has developed label-free optical signals to sort T-cells by activation state. The next step in their research requires a microfluidic chip to flow the cells at speeds that allow 100's of ms integration time on the detector. The device can be commercial or newly designed, and requires a number of specifications in order to integrate with their system. The function of the device should create single-file cell flow through the interrogation window with a stable core diameter of 20 um to 50 um while ensuring that stability is first maintained in the z direction. Cells should flow through the microfluidic device along with a PBS sheath fluid at a flow speed of 1 mm/s and up to 10x faster.

Team Picture

Files

• Final Poster Presentation Slides (December 9, 2020)
• Final Notebook (December 9, 2020)
• Final Report (December 9, 2020)
• Final Poster Presentation (December 4, 2020)
• Preliminary Report (October 7, 2020)
• Preliminary Presentation (October 1, 2020)
• PDS (October 1, 2020)

Contact Information

Team Members

• Josh Zembles - Team Leader
• Sara Wagers - Communicator
• Hunter Hefti - BSAC & BWIG
• Caleb Heerts - BPAG

Advisor and Client

• Prof. Justin Williams - Advisor
• Dr. Melissa Skala - Client
• Mr. Emmanuel Contreras - Alternate Contact

Related Projects

• Spring 2021: Microfluidic cell sorter
• Fall 2020: Microfluidic cell sorter