Computer-Vision based Magnetohydrodynamic Measurements for Determining Electrophoretic Mobility of Macroparticles

This article discusses the development of a computer vision (CV) based magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) measurement technique for the electrophoretic analysis of colloids. We studied the nature and the dynamics of macroparticles and bacterial colloids in uniform electric and magnetic field using camera as a measuring instrument [1]. Electrophoretic ‘mobility’ has been determined for these particles at different electric field values using 0.1 M NaCl as dispersant analyte. We designed a bench-top instrument comprising of a dc power supply and ceramic magnet for elec-trophoretic analysis of particles. ‘Tracker’ software was used to track the trajectories of the particles moving in the concurrent electric and magnetic field, and these trajectories were observed through a digital imaging system with a wide field of view. AMATLAB<sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">®</sup> GUI was developed to determine the phase, charge-to-mass (CTM) ratio, mobility, and frequency of gyration of the particles. Present research findings underscore the potential of advancements in electrophoretic analysis, particularly in the realm of measuring mobility and CTM ratio, as pivotal in expediting the diagnostic and characterization processes of macroscopic biomolecules.