Microrheology Lab

Client: Procter & Gamble

Challenge

Rheology, the analysis of non-Newtonian fluid properties,  conventionally requires cumbersome experimental setups with centrifuges and substantial quantities of test fluid. The technique of microrheology, pioneered  at Harvard's Experimental Soft Condensed Matter Group, consists of capturing the motion of micron-scale tracer particles in the test fluid through a microscope.  The statistical analysis of the Brownian motion of the tracer particles can yield the rheological properties in a small amount of fluid. 

Solution

Microrheology Lab implements sub-pixel particle tracking to assemble the independent frames of video into traces of unique particles that can be analyzed. The user can group the traces into clusters that can be analyzed  separately. We use the interactive capabilities of Chaco to link the plots together such that they update live based on the selection of clusters.