A Low Temperature Co-fired Ceramic Microfluidic Cell Counter

A three-dimensional microfluidic biosensor has been successfully designed using a low temperature co-fired ceramic (LTCC) technology. This microfluidic sensor consists of mixing, focusing and measuring region. The mixing region is a rectangular shaped channel, to enable the complete mixing of sample and buffered saline solution. An electrode pair in the focusing region uses negative dielectrophoretic forces to direct the cells from all directions of the channel towards the center. The measuring region consists of eleven pairs of gold plated electrodes to measure the change in impedance whenever a cell passes through it. The layout of the design is made using AUTOCAD tool and simulated using COMSOL Multiphysics. The results demonstrate the mixing efficiency of two fluids for different velocities.