Simulation and optimization of a microfluidic flow sensor

With microfluidic systems becoming more prominent, modeling of microfluidic components within microfluidic systems is becoming important. This paper describes a technique for modeling microfluidic flow rate microsensors using a standard circuit simulator, SPICE3f5. The model includes a liquid Poiseuille flow through an integrated microfluidic microchannel. The model provides insight and understanding of many physical and dynamic properties of flow sensors located within microfluidic environments. This method is cost-effective as electrical, thermal, and fluidic simulations can be performed in the same design environment. This method also offers both steady-state and dynamic operation simulation of the flow sensor. Results of several simulations are presented that verify the usefulness of our methods for both modeling and optimization of microfluidic flow sensors. Lastly, a sensor is fabricated using the optimized geometry and experimental results are compared to the simulation results.

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