Slanted spiral microfluidics for the ultra-fast, label-free isolation of circulating tumor cells.
The enumeration and characterization of circulating tumor cells (CTCs), found in the peripheral blood of cancer patients, provide a potentially accessible source for cancer diagnosis and prognosis. This work reports on a novel spiral microfluidic device with a trapezoidal cross-section for ultra-fast, label-free enrichment of CTCs from clinically relevant blood volumes. The technique utilizes the inherent Dean vortex flows present in curvilinear microchannels under continuous flow, along with inertial lift forces which focus larger CTCs against the inner wall. Using a trapezoidal cross-section as opposed to a traditional rectangular cross-section, the position of the Dean vortex core can be altered to achieve separation. Smaller hematologic components are trapped in the Dean vortices skewed towards the outer channel walls and eventually removed at the outer outlet, while the larger CTCs equilibrate near the inner channel wall and are collected from the inner outlet. By using a single spiral microchannel with one inlet and two outlets, we have successfully isolated and recovered more than 80% of the tested cancer cell line cells (MCF-7, T24 and MDA-MB-231) spiked in 7.5 mL of blood within 8 min with extremely high purity (400-680 WBCs mL(-1); ~4 log depletion of WBCs). Putative CTCs were detected and isolated from 100% of the patient samples (n = 10) with advanced stage metastatic breast and lung cancer using standard biomarkers (CK, CD45 and DAPI) with the frequencies ranging from 3-125 CTCs mL(-1). We expect this simple and elegant approach can surmount the shortcomings of traditional affinity-based CTC isolation techniques as well as enable fundamental studies on CTCs to guide treatment and enhance patient care.
BioSystems and Micromechanics (BioSyM) IRG, Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology (SMART) Centre, Singapore. jyhan@mit.edu ctlim@nus.edu.sg.
Majid Ebrahimi
ME
Warkiani
Guofeng
G
Guan
Khoo Bee
KB
Luan
Wong Cheng
WC
Lee
Ali Asgar S
AA
Bhagat
Parthiv Kant
PK
Chaudhuri
Daniel Shao-Weng
DS
Tan
Wan Teck
WT
Lim
Soo Chin
SC
Lee
Peter C Y
PC
Chen
Chwee Teck
CT
Lim
Jongyoon
J
Han
D055910:Antibodies, Immobilized / Q000737:chemistry / Q000276:immunology; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D002469:Cell Separation / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D002470:Cell Survival; D005260:Female; D016650:Fluorescein-5-isothiocyanate / Q000737:chemistry; D006801:Humans; D007633:Keratins / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism; D017493:Leukocyte Common Antigens / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology / Q000556:secondary; D046210:Microfluidic Analytical Techniques / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D018613:Microscopy, Confocal; D009360:Neoplastic Cells, Circulating / Q000378:metabolism*; D018719:Erb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine Kinases / Q000378:metabolism
D055910:Antibodies, Immobilized; D016650:Fluorescein-5-isothiocyanate; D007633:Keratins; D017493:Leukocyte Common Antigens; D018719:Erb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine Kinases; C508053:ERBB2 protein, human