MuBeta Laboratory Student Profile


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Simon Higgins

Masters student
MuBeta Laboratory

Address: DBE, Monash University Clayton
Phone: +61 (0)3 990 51927
Fax: +61 (0)3 990 59724
Email: Email Simon



Qualifications: B.E. (Mech.) Monash 2007

Masters topic: Design of a chamber for the control of shear on individual cells

Details:
This study is focused on hemorheology, the deformation of red blood cells – concentrating on the design and development of an integrated measurement system to revolutionise the diagnosis of red blood cell diseases such as malaria and sickle cell disease.

Currently, methods of cell rheology involve viewing individual cell deformation under a microscope as they are manually sucked by a vacuum in a pipette. Determination of the physical properties of blood cells such as elasticity and membrane toughness is non-trivial. Cells are small (ranging from 3µm to 15µm) and do not live long outside the host if not treated. They need to be kept warm and fed in the case of whole blood, while other elements of the blood will clot without some anti-clotting agent. Therefore the living cells need to be interrogated quickly and efficiently. The improved method proposed would involve passing cells through a flow that exerts known forces on the cell. This process could then be captured by a digital camera and the cell deformation recorded and analysed via automated software.

Early work in this study has utilised a combination of spectral-element computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations and the Levenberg-Marquardt (LM) non-linear optimisation algorithms to optimise the design of a micro-channel contraction. The LM algorithm is used to find the optimum contraction profile which minimises changes in the shear rate throughout the flow. The primary criterion for the design of the micro-channel contraction is a constant shear-rate in the flow direction. This is motivated by the need to study living cells in a uniform-shear environment. Studying cells in this environment will increase our understanding of microbiology and hemorheology.

Paper(s) currently in progress:

  1. Chua, C.S., Higgins, S.A., Fouras, A. & Hourigan, K. "A sub-millisecond asynchronous X-ray shutter" In preparation for submission to Review of Scientific Instruments.

Publications/Conferences/Seminars:

  1. PDF Download Chua, C.S., Sheard, G.J., Dubsky, S., Higgins, S., Jamison, R.A., Fouras, A. & Hourigan, K. (2009) Particle image velocimetry of non-axisymmetric stenosis models, in Proc. 8th International Symposium on Particle Image Velocimetry — PIV09, Melbourne, Australia, 25–28 August 2009.
  2. PDF Download Higgins, S., Sheard, G.J., Fouras, A. & Hourigan, K., (2009) Computer-aided optimisation of a constant shear-rate micro-channel contraction, ANZIAM Journal, 50, C1004–C1016. Also in Proc. 14th Biennial Computational Techniques and Applications Conference (CTAC'08), Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia, 13-16 July 2008.

Teaching experience:

  • Demonstrator: ENG1060 Engineering Profession, Monash University Clayton (S2 2009)
  • Tutor: MAE2402 Engineering Design I, Monash University Clayton (S1 2009)

Affiliations:

  • Fluids Laboratory for Aeronautical and Industrial Research (FLAIR), Monash University