Two-dimensional flow magnetophoresis of microparticles

A new two-dimensional micro-flow magnetophoresis device was constructed in a superconducting magnet (10 T) using triangular shaped pole pieces, which could apply a magnetic strength, B(dB/dx), in the range of ca. 0–14,000 T2 m−1 across a capillary cell. Polystyrene particles with diameters of 1, 3, and 6 μm were used as test samples in a paramagnetic medium of 1 M MnCl2 to evaluate the performance of this method. Microparticles migrated across the capillary along the edge of the pole pieces, and then flowed through the gap in the pole piece at a position defined as the migration distance, depending on the magnetic susceptibility and the size of particles as well as the flow rate. The most effective flow rate to exhibit the largest resolution among the particles was theoretically predicted and experimentally confirmed. By this method, the magnetic susceptibilities of individual deoxygenated and non-deoxygenated red blood cells were measured from the relative migration distance.