Hydrodynamic instability in a magnetically driven suspension of paramagnetic red blood cells

We investigate the magnetically driven motion in suspensions of paramagnetic particles. Our object is diluted deoxygenated whole blood with paramagnetic red blood cells (RBCs). We use direct observations in a closed vertical Hele-Shaw channel, and a well-defined magnetic force field applied horizontally in the channel plane. At very low cell concentrations, we register single-particle motion mode, track individual cells and determine their hydrodynamic and magnetic characteristics. Above 0.2 volume percent concentration, we observe local swirls and a global transient quasi-periodic vortex structure, intensifying with increasing cell concentration, but surprisingly this does not influence the time and purity of the magnetic extraction of RBCs. Our observations shed light on the behavioral complexity of magnetically driven submagnetic suspensions, an important issue for the emerging microfluidic technology of direct magnetic cell separation and intriguing for the mechanics of particulate soft matter.