Three-dimensional hydrodynamic focusing with a single sheath flow in a single-layer microfluidic device

We report a contraction-expansion array (CEA) microchannel that allows three-dimensional hydrodynamic focusing with a single sheath flow in a single-layer device. The CEA microchannel exploits centrifugal forces acting on fluids travelling along the contraction and expansion regions of the microchannel. Around an entrance of the contraction region, the centrifugal forces induce a secondary flow field where two counter-rotating vortices enable to envelop a sample flow with a sheath flow in three dimensions. We herein describe an underlying principle and a design of the CEA microchannel and demonstrate complete sheathing of a sample fluid (water and human red blood cells) in three dimensions. The focusing characteristics of the CEA microchannel are investigated in terms of the number of the rectangular structures, flow rate, and flow ratio between sample and sheath flows. This microfluidic channel for three-dimensional hydrodynamic focusing is easy to fabricate in a single-layer fabrication process and simple to operate with a single sheath flow.