No abstract

The flow of giant lipid vesicles through cylindrical capillaries is experimentally investigated. Vesicles are deflated with reduced volumes between 0.8 and 1, corresponding to prolate spheroidal equilibrium shapes. Both interior and exterior fluids are sugar solutions with viscosities close to 10−3 Pa s. Vesicles are aspirated into a capillary tube with a diameter close to the vesicle size and a constant flow rate is imposed. Significant deformation of the membrane occurs and increases when the velocity, confinement or deflation of the vesicle are increased. The mobility of vesicles, defined as the ratio of their velocity to the average velocity of the fluid is a decreasing function of confinement. Our experimental system provides a controllable and flexible tool to investigate deformability effects responsible for crucial aspects of blood rheology in capillaries.

We report on the rheology of dilute suspensions of red blood cells (RBC) and vesicles. The viscosity of RBC suspensions reveals a previously unknown signature: it exhibits a pronounced minimum when the viscosity of the ambient medium is close to the value at which the transition from tank-treading to tumbling occurs. This bifurcation is triggered by varying the viscosity of the ambient fluid. It is found that the intrinsic viscosity of the suspension varies by about a factor of 4 in the explored parameter range. Surprisingly, this significant change of the intrinsic viscosity is revealed even at low hematocrit (5%). We suggest that this finding may be used to detect blood flow disorders linked to pathologies that affect RBC shape and mechanical properties. This opens future perspectives on setting up new diagnostic tools, with great efficiency even at very low hematocrit. Investigations are also performed on giant vesicle suspensions, and compared to RBCs.

The dynamics of a vesicle suspension in a shear flow between parallel plates has been investigated under microgravity conditions, where vesicles are only submitted to hydrodynamic effects such as lift forces due to the presence of walls and drag forces. The temporal evolution of the spatial distribution of the vesicles has been recorded thanks to digital holographic microscopy, during parabolic flights and under normal gravity conditions. The collected data demonstrates that vesicles are pushed away from the walls with a lift velocity proportional toγR 3 /z 2 whereγ is the shear rate, R the vesicle radius and z its distance from the wall. This scaling as well as the dependence of the lift velocity upon vesicle aspect ratio are consistent with theoretical predictions by Olla [J. Phys. II France 7, 1533-1540(1997].

A simple 2D model of deformable vesicles tumbling in a shear under flow is introduced in order to account for the main qualitative features observed experimentally as shear rates are increased. The simplicity of the model allows for a full analytical tractability while retaining the essential physical ingredients. The model reveals that the main axes of the vesicle undergo oscillations which are coupled to the vesicle orientation in the flow. The model reproduces and sheds light on the main novel features reported in recent experiments [M. Mader et al., Eur. Phys. J. E. 19, 389 (2006)], namely that both coefficients A and B that enter the Keller-Skalak equation, d psi/dt = A+B cos(2 psi) (psi is the vesicle orientation angle in the shear flow), undergo a collapse upon increasing shear rate.

We propose a simple microfluidic device able to separate submicron particles (critical size ∼0.1 μm) from a complex sample with no filter (minimum channel dimension being 5 μm) by hydrodynamic filtration. A model taking into account the actual velocity profile and hydrodynamic resistances enables prediction of the chip sorting properties for any geometry. Two design families are studied to obtain (i) small sizes within minutes (low-aspect ratio, two-level chip) and (ii) micron-sized sorting with a μL flow rate (3D architecture based on lamination). We obtain quantitative agreement of sorting performances both with experiments and with numerical solving, and determine the limits of the approach. We therefore demonstrate a passive, filter-less sub-micron size sorting with a simple, robust, and easy to fabricate design.

We present numerical and experimental results on an innovative method to enhance the hybridization process in the field of microarray based analytics. Hybridization reaction based on biochip approaches take several hours due to the fact that these reactions are diffusion limited. To monitor the binding of fluorescent labeled analyte molecules to the probe molecules on the chip surface we use a home made fluorescent detection system that allows continues monitoring of the reaction on chip. Mixing is the key to overcome the diffusion barrier and increase reaction rate. We present a novel mixing device that increases reaction time The AC-electrokinetic signal produces an electrothermal flow that enhances the DNA binding. We show an optimization of the AC-signal and the electrodes design based on numerical simulations to obtain highest efficiency in mixing of analyte solutions and we report experimental results on dephosphorylation experiment.

International audienceThe behaviour of a vesicle suspension in a simple shear flow between plates (Couette flow) was investigated experimentally in parabolic flight and sounding rocket experiments by Digital Holographic Microscopy. The lift force which pushes deformable vesicles away from walls was quantitatively investigated and is found to be rather well described by a theoretical model by Olla [1]. At longer shearing times, vesicles reach a steady distribution about the center plane of the shear flow chamber, through a balance between the lift force and shear induced diffusion due to hydrodynamic interactions between vesicles. This steady distribution was investigated in the BIOMICS experiment in the MASER 11 sounding rocket. The results allow an estimation of self-diffusion coefficients in vesicle suspensions and reveal possible segregation phenomena in polydisperse suspensions