title: Continual collection and re-separation of circulating tumor cells from blood using multi-stage multi-orifice flow fractionation.
abstract: Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) are highly correlated with the invasive behavior of cancer; as such, the ability to isolate and quantify CTCs is of great biomedical importance. This research presents a multi-stage multi-orifice flow fractionation (MS-MOFF) device formed by combining three single-stage multi-orifice segments designed for separating breast cancer cells from blood. The structure and dimensions of the MS-MOFF were determined by hydrodynamic principles to have consistent Reynolds numbers (Re) at each multi-orifice segment. From this device, we achieved improved separation efficiency by collecting and re-separating non-selected target cells in comparison with the single-stage multi-orifice flow fractionation (SS-MOFF). The recovery of breast cancer cells increased from 88.8% to greater than 98.9% through the multi-stage multi-orifice segments. This device can be utilized to isolate rare cells from human blood, such as CTCs, in a label-free manner solely through the use of hydrodynamic forces.
authors.affiliation: In Vitro Diagnostics Lab, Bio Research Center, Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology, San 14, Nongseo-dong, Giheung-gu, Younin-si, Gyeonggi-do 446-712, South Korea.
authors.forename: Hui-Sung
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Moon
authors.affiliation: School of Mechanical Engineering, Yonsei University, 262 Seongsan-no Seodaemun-gu, Seoul 120-749, South Korea.
authors.forename: Kiho
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kwon
authors.affiliation: School of Mechanical Engineering, Yonsei University, 262 Seongsan-no Seodaemun-gu, Seoul 120-749, South Korea.
authors.forename: Kyung-A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Hyun
authors.affiliation: In Vitro Diagnostics Lab, Bio Research Center, Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology, San 14, Nongseo-dong, Giheung-gu, Younin-si, Gyeonggi-do 446-712, South Korea.
authors.forename: Tae
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Seok Sim
authors.affiliation: In Vitro Diagnostics Lab, Bio Research Center, Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology, San 14, Nongseo-dong, Giheung-gu, Younin-si, Gyeonggi-do 446-712, South Korea.
authors.forename: Jae
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Chan Park
authors.affiliation: In Vitro Diagnostics Lab, Bio Research Center, Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology, San 14, Nongseo-dong, Giheung-gu, Younin-si, Gyeonggi-do 446-712, South Korea.
authors.forename: Jeong-Gun
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: School of Mechanical Engineering, Yonsei University, 262 Seongsan-no Seodaemun-gu, Seoul 120-749, South Korea.
authors.forename: Hyo-Il
authors.initials: HI
authors.lastname: Jung