Paramagnetic microchip for high-gradient separation of blood cell

This paper presents a magnetophoretic separation method on a chip of white blood cells from blood under continuous flow. The separation of red blood cells from the whole blood is performed using a high gradient magnetic separation method under continuous flow to trap the particles inside the device. The device is fabricated by microfabrication technology and enables to capture the red blood cells without the use of labelling tecniques such as magnetic beads. The method consists of flowing diluted whole blood through a microfluidic channel where a ferromagnetic layer, subjected to a permanent magnetic field, is located. The majority of red blood cells are trapped at the bottom of the device while the rest of the blood is collected at the outlet. Experimental results show that an average of 95% of red blood cells are trapped in the device.