LOCALIZED MANIPULATION OF MAGNETIC MICRO-PARTICLES

Abstract

The ability to manipulate magnetic particles selectively and simultaneously (within a group of such particles) has vital implications in studying cellular behaviors and in manipulating micro-structures at an ensemble-level. Current magnetic manipulation techniques usually handle one particle at a time, which results in low operational throughput. This thesis presents a new engineering solution that enables (effectively) simultaneous localized manipulation of multiple magnetic particles. The key challenge in realizing the proposed solution lies in the localization of the applied magnetic force to allow selective manipulation of a single particle in a group. This has led to the development of a novel device, which realizes magnetic-force localization. The localization effects of this device were demonstrated and quantified through analytical modeling and simulations that yielded statistically meaningful results. With the characterized device, a prototype magnetic manipulation system was developed to realize the proposed solution and experiments were carried out to evaluate its effectiveness.