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CAE Lab Research

Current and Past Research Topics include:

 

DEP Embedded Inertial Microfluidic Techniques

Inertial microfluidics, which has the capability for unconventional use of fluid inertia to separate different types of cells, is getting attention as a high-throughput microchip technique. Our interest in this area is to develop hybrid techniques that combine the benefits of both inertia effects and active techniques such as dielectrophoresis (DEP) to differentiate among various types of cells based on both cell size and their dielectric properties. By utilizing a frequency-based external AC electric field and sheath flow, our proposed technique could accomplish a continuous and high throughput separation of MDA-231 CTCs from overlapping sized WBCs. For research opportunity at the undergraduate and graduate level, please contact Dr. Chen.

Deterministic Lateral Displacement (DLD) with Dielectrophoresis

In recent years, label-free dielectrophoresis (DEP) has emerged as a promising method for cell separation by manipulating cells using nonuniform electric fields. Inspired from deterministic lateral displacement (DLD) separation scheme, we propose to integrate the iDEP with DLD-like arrays of insulating posts for continuous cell separation. Our interest in this area is to develop the deterministic DEP technology by taking advantage of frequency-controlled AC electric field for continuous separation of Circulating Tumor Cells (CTCs) from peripheral blood cells. For research opportunity at the undergraduate and graduate level, please contact Dr. Chen.

High-throughput DLD devices: Implications for CTC separation

Deterministic lateral displacement (DLD), which leverages the asymmetric bifurcation of laminar flow around the embedded microposts, shows promising capabilities in separating cells and particles of different sizes. Growing interest in utilizing high-throughput DLD devices for practical applications, such as circulating tumor cell separation, necessitates employing higher flow rates in these devices, leading to operating in moderate to high Reynolds number (Re) regimes. Our interest is to study the transport behavior of particles/cells and investigate the realistic high-throughput DLD devices at moderate to high Re by utilizing multiphysics modeling. For research opportunity at the undergraduate and graduate level, please contact Dr. Chen.


Reduced Order Modeling and Multiphysical Simulation of MEMS

Micro-electro-mechanical system is a rapidly growing research area that may ultimately rival integrated circuit in importance. Experimentation at small scales is quite challenging and expensive. This leads to a strong need for high fidelity simulation to effectively predict the performance of micro-electro-mechanical systems. Our interest in this area is to develop efficient computational models and tools to simulate physical behaviors of MEMS by accounting for multiphysics interactions between coupled fields. For research opportunity at the undergraduate and graduate level, please contact Dr. Chen.

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Image-based Simulation and Characterization of Biological Structures

Computational simulations can play an important role to augment experimental techniques in the characterization of biological structures as well as in the design of emerging tissue engineering materials. Our research interest in this area is to develop and apply image-based simulation tools for modeling and characterization of complex biological materials and structures. For research opportunity at the undergraduate and graduate level, please contact Dr. Chen.

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Inverse Problems in Biomedical Imaging

Localization of biological source activity is of high diagnostic value. Our interest in this area is to develop noninvasive numerical procedures to tackle ill-posed biological source reconstruction problems with realistic images acquired from advanced imaging modalities. For research opportunity at the undergraduate and graduate level, please contact Dr. Chen.

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