Integration of point-of-care assays can be facilitated with the use of actuated magnetic beads (MB) to perform testing in less expensive settings to enable the delivery of cost-effective care. In this paper we present six different designs of planar microelectromagnets traps (MEMT) with four external coils in series and one central coil connected for an opposite direction of manipulation of MB in microfluidic flows. The development of a simulation tool facilitated the rapid and efficient optimization of designs by presenting the influence of system variables on real time concentrations of MB. Real time experiments are in good agreement with the simulations and showed that the design enabled synchronous concentration and dispersion of MB on the same MEMT. The yield of local concentration is seen to be highly dependent on coil design. Additional coil turns between the central and external coils (inter-windings) doubled magnetic concentration and repulsion with no significant electrical resistance increase. The assemblage of a copper microchannel closed loop cooling system to the coils successfully eliminated the thermal drift promoted by joule heating generated by applied current.
Keywords: interactive design; magnetic beads concentration; magnetic trapping; microfluidic flow; thin film planar microelectromagnets.