Thales: an instrument to measure the low field magnetophoretic mobility of microscopic objects

An instrument, Thales, was designed and constructed to measure the induce motion of magnetic microspheres in a low magnetic field strength environment. Results show that Thales can be used to precisely measure the speed of microspheres (± 0.08 μm.s⁻¹). We evaluated the motion of magnetic microspheres induced by an inhomogeneous magnetic field, and developed models for the microsphere magnetophoretic mobility, a parameter determining the speed attained by the microsphere in a given static low strength magnetic fiel environment. The data suggested that the magnetic material was located at the surfaces of the microspheres rather than being distributed evenly through the microspheres. With suitable calibration microspheres, Thales will be capable of directly measuring the low fiel magnetophoretic mobility of microscopic objects.