Active mixing and catching using magnetic particles

Over het proefschrift:
Biosensors that can detect the presence of bio-molecular or cellular markers at low concentration in a small device have a tremendous potential in bio-medical diagnostics. In these systems microfluidics play an important role, meaning that fluid flow occurs on the microscale. Two key processes that need to be mastered are: the mixing of fluids and of reagents inside the fluid, and the catching and transportation of small amounts of (biological) target material. We will use active actuation of magnetic beads dispersed in the liquid to control the dynamics and efficiency of mixing, and to control catching and transportation of target material with beads coated with an activated surface. A micro-device with efficient mixing and catching by magnetic beads can be applied in many fields, e.g. to extract, concentrate, synthesize, manipulate and detect biological material. In this book we will test and apply the mixing and catching technology.

Over de auteur:
The author, Yang Gao was born in Beijing, China, on November 23th 1985. At the age of 10, he moved with his parents to the Netherlands. He obtained his Bachelor and Master degrees in Electrical engineering at Twente University, in the group of Prof. Albert van den Berg. His thesis work was conducted at Philips Research in Eindhoven and was focused on microfluidic structures for the separation of blood cells and bacteria. In 2009, he started his PhD study in the Polymer Technology group of Prof. Han Meijer at Eindhoven University of Technology under the supervision of Prof. Jaap den Toonder and Dr. Martien Hulsen. The four years of doctoral studies were financially supported by the Technology Foundation STW.