Magnetomicrofluidic Platforms for Organizing Arrays of Single-Particles and Particle-Pairs

Magnetomicrofluidic platforms for precise transport of magnetized particles on-chip are introduced. These hybrid platforms are composed of microfluidic trapping systems and the previously proposed magnetophoretic circuits. In the fluidic trapping step, single-particles are captured in a large array, at speeds of more than an order of magnitude higher than the one achieved in our original magnetophoretic circuits. Then, magnetic forces, provided by the magnetophoretic circuits, are used to precisely transfer trapped particles into adjacent larger compartments, where no considerable shear stress is applied to them. We show that, for the first time, the magnetic particles of various sizes can be stored in large arrays of semi-isolated micro-compartments, with efficiencies of ~70%. In addition to single particle arrays, we show forming arrays of magnetic particle pairs, with potential applications in cellular biology and drug screening.