A combined velocity and temperature measurement with an LED and a low-speed camera

Microfluidic devices are governed by three-dimensional velocity and temperature fields, and their boundary conditions are often unknown. Therefore, a measurement technique is often desired to measure both fields in a volume. With astigmatism particle tracking velocimetry (APTV) combined with luminescence lifetime imaging, the temperature and all velocity components in a volume can be measured with one optical access. While the three-dimensional particle position is determined by evaluating the shape of the corresponding particle image, the temperature measurement relies on estimating the temperature-dependent luminescence lifetime derived from particle images on two subsequent image captures shortly after the photoexcitation. For this, typically a high-energetic pulsed laser is required to ensure a high signal-to-noise ratio. However, it can also cause additional heating of the fluid. We show that this problem is solved by replacing the pulsed laser with an LED. To compensate for the lower power provided by the LED, we adapted the timing schedule and vastly extended the illumination time and the exposure time for both image captures. In addition, we were able to replace the typically used high-speed camera with an ordinary double-frame camera. In this way, very low measurement uncertainties on all measured quantities can be achieved while keeping the temperature of the fluid unaffected. Random errors dominate within the two focal planes of APTV, yielding a standard deviation of the temperature of individual particles of about 1 degrees C only. The measurement error caused by the movement of tracer particles during the much longer illumination and exposure time were found to be acceptable when the measured velocity is low. With the circumvention of light-source induced heating and the lower cost of hardware devices, the adapted approach is a suitable measurement technique for microfluidic related research.

Automated summary

APTV combined with luminescence lifetime imaging can measure the temperature and velocity components in a volume through a single optical access, using an LED instead of a pulsed laser to prevent additional heating, and replacing a high-speed camera with an ordinary double-frame camera for cost efficiency, making it a suitable measurement technique for microfluidic research.