Abstract
We have been focused on the dispersion of cells in micro channel flow, especially red blood cells (RBCs). When RBCs are dispersed in a micro channel with a Y-shape junction, the dispersion of cells would occur from denser to thinner direction according with concentration of cells. It is regarding to clarify the dispersion phenomena in micro channel for designing of lab-on-a-chip applications. The detailed mechanism of cell dispersion, however, has not been fully clarified yet. We performed the quantitative dispersion measurement in the Y-shape micro channel, in which two layers with and without RBCs flow in parallel, and investigated the effects of flow rates and hematocrit. Our results suggest that the dispersion in micro channel would be more dominant than Brownian diffusion, and depends on the hematocrit and the flow rate. These findings provide us useful information on mass transport in cell suspensions.
