Abstract
Liquid viscosity is a vital metric in numerous biochemical applications. A precise bio-assay often needs to determine viscosity prior to processing. This article presents a simple viscosity measurement technique based on the μPIV diffusometry. Assessing Brownian motion of neutrally buoyant particles in a micro-sized chamber provides a fast link to the liquid viscosity. The ensemble cross-correlation algorithm was used to extract the viscosity information out of a series of particle images. The width of a correlation peak decreased with the increased viscosity. For an accurate measurement, the study also evaluated deviations resulting from hindered diffusion. A correction factor was obtained by comparing the measured viscosity of glycerol solutions with the reference data. A calibration curve was made to fix the shifted measurements. The advantages of this technique are as follows: small volume (<1 μL), noninvasiveness, ease of use, and low cost. The good agreement between the data measured from the μPIV system and a commercial viscometer validated the approach. To prove the effectiveness, the technique was used to study the viscosity change of dextran solutions and its effect on the kinematics of the micro-swimmer, Caenorhabditis elegans. A broad range of viscosity measurements (>103 mPa s) were achieved. The demonstration confirms the possible use of the technique in other biological applications that requires broad-range and small-volume measurement capabilities for viscosity.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Ballato A (2010) MEMS fluid viscosity sensor. IEEE Trans Ultrason Ferroelectr Freq Control 57(3):669–676
Behrend CJ, Anker JN, McNaughton BH, Kopelman R (2005) Microrheology with modulated optical nanoprobes (MOONs). J Magn Magn Mater 293:663–670
Belfer SJ, Chuang HS, Freedman BL, Yuan J, Norton M, Bau HH, Raizen DM (2013) Caenorhabditis-in-drop array for monitoring C. elegans quiescent behavior. Sleep 36(5):689–698
Bercea M, Darie RN, Nita LE, Morariu S (2011) Temperature responsive gels based on Pluronic F127 and poly(vinylalcohol). Ind Eng Chem Res 50:4199–4206
Chamarthy P, Wereley ST, Garimella SV (2006) Simultaneous measurement of temperature and velocity using cross-correlation μPIV. 13th International symposium on application of laser techniques to fluid mechanics. Lisbon, Portugal
Chang C-L, Perez A, Kuver R, Reinhall P, Wang W-C (2008) Optical viscosity sensor using bend loss of fiber. Proc. SPIE 69351, Health Monitoring of Structural and Biological Systems 2008, 69351E. doi:10.1117/12.775551
Chen Y-M, Pearlstein AJ (1987) Viscosity-temperature correlation for glycerol-water solutions. Ind Eng Chem Res 26:1670–1672
Chuang HS, Kumar A, Wereley ST (2010) CH12: optical flow characterization-microparticle image velocimetry (μPIV). In: Zahn JD (ed) Methods in biology: biomicrofabrication and biomicrofluidics. Boston, London, Artechhouse, pp 281–310
Chuang HS, Gui L, Wereley, ST (2012) Nano-resolution flow measurement based on single pixel evaluation PIV. Microfluid Nanofluid 13:49–64
Clark AT, Lal M, Watson GM (1987) Dynamics of colloidal particles in vicinity of an interacting surface. Faraday Discuss Chem Soc 83:179–191
Keedy A (2006) An overview of intracranial aneurysms. MJM 9(2):141–146
Endo H, Sode K, Karube I, Muramatsu H (1990) On-line monitoring of the viscosity in dextran fermentation using piezoelectric quartz crystal. Biotechnol Bioeng 36:636–641
Etchart I, Chen H, Dryden P, Jundt J, Harrison C, Hsu K, Marty F, Mercier B (2008) MEMS sensors for density–viscosity sensing in a low-flow microfluidic environment. Sens Actuators A 141:266–275
Fang-Yen C, Wyart M, Xie J, Kawai R, Kodger T, Chena S, Wen Q, Samuel ADT (2010) Biomechanical analysis of gait adaptation in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. PNAS 107(47):20323–20328
Gailloud P (2005) Endovascular treatment of cerebral arteriovenous malformations. Tech Vasc Interv Radiol 8:118–128
Huang P, Breuer KS (2007) Direct measurement of anisotropic near-wall hindered diffusion using total internal reflection velocimetry. Phys Rev E 76(4):046307
Mark M, Häusler K, Dual J, Reinhart WH (2006) Oscillating viscometer—evaluation of a new bedside test. Biorheology 43:133–146
Meinhart CD, Wereley ST, Santiago JG (1999) PIV measurements in a microchannel flow. Exp Fluids 24:414–419
Meinhart CD, Wereley ST, Santiago JG (2000) A PIV algorithm for estimating time-averaged velocity fields. J Fluids Eng 122:285–289
Olsen MG, Adrian RJ (2000) Out-of-focus effects on particle image visibility and correlation in microscopic particle image velocimetry. Exp Fluids 29:S166–S174
Prasad VSK, Balasubramaniam K, Kannan E, Geisinger KL (2008) Viscosity measurements of melts at high temperatures using ultrasonic guided waves. J Mater Proc Technol 207:315–320
Raffle M, Willert C, Wereley ST, Kompenhans J (2007) Particle image velocimetry: a practical guide. Springer, New York
Santiago JG, Wereley ST, Meinhart C, Beebee BJ, Adrian RJ (1998) A PIV system for microfluidics. Exp Fluids 25(4):316–319
Schaschke CJ (2010) High pressure viscosity measurement with falling body type viscometers. Int Rev Chem Eng 2(5):564–576
Shin S, Ku Y, Park M-S, Suh J-S (2004) Measurement of blood viscosity using a pressure-scanning capillary viscometer. Clin Hemorheol Micro 30:467–470
Sznitman J, Shen X, Sznitman R, Arratia PE (2010) Propulsive force measurements and flow behavior of undulatory swimmers at low Reynolds number. Phys Fluids 22:121901
Taguchi Y, Ebisui A, Nagasaka Y (2008) Miniaturized optical viscosity sensor based on a laser-induced capillary wave. J Opt A Pure Appl Opt 10:044008
Tokarev A, Kaufman B, Gu Y, Andrukh T, Adler PH, Kornev KG (2013) Probing viscosity of nanoliter droplets of butterfly saliva by magnetic rotational spectroscopy. Appl Phys Lett 102:033701
Wang W-C, Reinhall PG, Yee S (1999) Fluid viscosity measurement using forward light scattering. Meas Sci Technol 10:316–322
Acknowledgments
This research received funding from the Headquarters of University Advancement at the National Cheng Kung University, which is sponsored by the Ministry of Education, Taiwan. The authors are also grateful to the support from the research Grant NSC 101-2221-E-006-049-.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Electronic supplementary material
Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Sie, YS., Chuang, HS. A micro-volume viscosity measurement technique based on μPIV diffusometry. Microfluid Nanofluid 16, 65–72 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10404-013-1219-4
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10404-013-1219-4