Abstract
Effective methods for rapid sorting of cells according to their viability are critical in T-cells based therapies to prevent any risk to patients. In this context, we present a novel microfluidic device that continuously separates viable and non-viable T-cells according to their dielectric properties. A dielectrophoresis (DEP) force is generated by an array of castellated microelectrodes embedded into a microfluidic channel with a single inlet and two outlets; cells subjected to positive DEP forces are drawn towards the electrodes array and leave from the top outlet, those subjected to negative DEP forces are repelled away from the
electrodes and leave from the bottom outlet. Computational fluid dynamics is used to predict the device separation efficacy, according to the applied alternative current (AC) frequency, at which the cells move from/to a negative/positive DEP region and the ionic strength of the
suspension medium. The model is used to support the design of the operational conditions, confirming a separation efficiency, in terms of purity, of 96% under an applied AC frequency of 1.5 × 106 Hz and a flow rate of 20 µl/h. This work represents the first example of effective continuous sorting of viable and non-viable human T-cells in a single-inlet microfluidic chip, paving the way for lab-on-a-chip applications at the point of need.
electrodes and leave from the bottom outlet. Computational fluid dynamics is used to predict the device separation efficacy, according to the applied alternative current (AC) frequency, at which the cells move from/to a negative/positive DEP region and the ionic strength of the
suspension medium. The model is used to support the design of the operational conditions, confirming a separation efficiency, in terms of purity, of 96% under an applied AC frequency of 1.5 × 106 Hz and a flow rate of 20 µl/h. This work represents the first example of effective continuous sorting of viable and non-viable human T-cells in a single-inlet microfluidic chip, paving the way for lab-on-a-chip applications at the point of need.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 1-8 |
| Number of pages | 8 |
| Journal | Electrophoresis |
| Early online date | 30 Oct 2021 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | E-pub ahead of print - 30 Oct 2021 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:. The authors would like to acknowledge the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) for funding (grant EP/R022534/1 to M.D.L.). L.M. is supported by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (grant EP/S01876X/1) and by the EU Horizon 2020 research project COSY‐BIO (grant 766840)
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 The Authors. Electrophoresis published by Wiley-VCH GmbH