Bends in magnetophoretic conductors

The controlled transport of individual particles and single cells to addressable compartments is a fundamental aim in the emerging fields of lab-on-a-chip and single cell biology. Toward this goal, magnetophoretic circuits, by providing precise control over individual particles in a highly parallel manner, have shown to be a unique competitor for the rivals in the field. In these matter transport platforms, magnetic thin films provide a predefined trajectory for the magnetic microbeads and magnetically labeled cells toward the desired spots. These magnetic paths, called magnetophoretic conductors, are usually placed in horizontal or vertical directions in a circuit; however, we have made no prior attempts to optimize the design of the junctions and the bends in the conductors. Here, we provide an optimization analysis of the bends based on variation in the particle’s size. Considering the achieved results, we designed multiple bends with high performance in transporting magnetized particles and cells. Applying these designs to the magnetophoretic circuits results in a robust, multiplexed platform capable of manipulating microbeads and single cells with important applications in biology, immunology, and drug screening.