This study analyzes the effect of the flow conditions and the geometric variation of the microcantilever's bluff body on the microcantilever detection capabilities within a fluidic using a finite element fluid-structure interaction (FSI) model Periodic steady-state results of the current investigation show that the magnitude of the inlet fluid velocity, elasticity of the microcantilever, random noise, and the height of the bluff body has respective profound effect on deflection of the microcantilever. Low inlet fluid velocity condition exhibits no vortices around the microcantilever However, the introduction of a random noise in the fluidic cell may cause the microcantilever to oscillate in a harmonic mode at low velocity. The results of this study show that microcantilevers excite earlier for large height compared with smaller heights of the bluff body at high inlet fluid velocity. This work paves the road for researchers in the area microcantilever to design efficient microcantilevers that display least errors in the measurements. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd All rights reserved