Simultaneous measurement of concentrations and velocities of submicron species using multicolor imaging and microparticle image velocimetry.

We propose a novel approach to resolve simultaneously the distributions of velocities and concentration of multiple, submicron species in microfluidic devices using microparticle image velocimetry, and particle counting. Both two-dimensional measurement and three-dimensional analysis of flow fields, from the stacked images, are achieved on applying a confocal fluorescence microscope. The displacements of all seeding particles are monitored to determine the overall velocity field, whereas the multicolor particles are counted and analyzed individually for each color to reveal the distributions of concentration and velocity of each species. A particle-counting algorithm is developed to determine quantitatively the spatially resolved concentration. This simultaneous measurement is performed on a typical T-shaped channel to investigate the mixing of fluids. The results are verified with numerical simulation; satisfactory agreement is achieved. This measurement technique possesses reliability appropriate for a powerful tool to analyze multispecies mixing flows, two-phase flows, and biofluids in microfluidic devices.