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Overview Of Cell Separation And Isolation

Overview Of Cell Separation And Isolation

Cell separation was first achieved in 1964 by S. H. Seal, who separated large tumor cells from the smaller blood cells using filtration. Two years later, Pohl and Hawk performed experiments on how cells respond differently to a nonuniform electric field based on the cell type. Such observations were the inception of cell separation methods, which allow isolating a single cell type from a heterogeneous sample.

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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jul 5, 2026

A Microfluidic Platform for Precision Small-volume Sample Processing and Its Use to Size Separate Biological Particles with an Acoustic Microdevice

A Microfluidic Platform for Precision Small-volume Sample Processing and Its Use to Size Separate Biological Particles with an Acoustic Microdevice

Published on: November 23, 2015

Microfluidic high viability neural cell separation using viscoelastically tuned hydrodynamic spreading.

Zhigang Wu¹, Klas Hjort, Grzegorz Wicher

¹Department of Engineering Sciences, The Angström Laboratory, Uppsala University, 751 21, Uppsala, Sweden. Zhigang.Wu@angstrom.uu.se

Biomedical Microdevices

|May 8, 2008

Summary

This study presents a high-throughput microfluidic cell separation method using viscoelastic fluid dynamics for size-based sorting. The technique achieves high cell viability, crucial for isolating delicate neural cells from other cell types.

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Last Updated: Jul 5, 2026

A Microfluidic Platform for Precision Small-volume Sample Processing and Its Use to Size Separate Biological Particles with an Acoustic Microdevice

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Published on: November 23, 2015

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Separating Beads and Cells in Multi-channel Microfluidic Devices Using Dielectrophoresis and Laminar Flow

Separating Beads and Cells in Multi-channel Microfluidic Devices Using Dielectrophoresis and Laminar Flow

Published on: February 4, 2011

Area of Science:

Biotechnology
Microfluidics
Cell Biology

Background:

Effective cell separation is critical for biological research and clinical applications.
Existing methods often struggle with throughput, cell viability, or precise separation of heterogeneous cell populations.

Purpose of the Study:

To develop and validate a high-throughput, high-viability microfluidic cell separation technique.
To leverage size-based hydrodynamic spreading with viscoelastic fluid tuning for cell sorting.
To demonstrate the separation of primary neural and glial cells with high viability.

Main Methods:

Utilized continuous mode hydrodynamic spreading in a microfluidic device.
Employed viscoelastic tuning with alginic sodium solutions at varying concentrations and flow rates.
Separated latex beads of different sizes (9.9 µm and 1.9 µm) as a model system.
Applied surface treatments to prevent cell adhesion and used buffered solutions for cell culture.

Main Results:

Demonstrated effective separation of latex beads based on size differences.
Successfully separated neuron cells from glial cells derived from rat spinal cord tissue.
Achieved high relative viability (over 90%) for separated neural cells compared to controls.
Validated the technique by comparing neural cell separation to latex particle separation (20 µm and 4.6 µm).

Conclusions:

The developed microfluidic technique offers a high-throughput and high-viability solution for cell separation.
Viscoelastic tuning is a key factor in achieving precise, size-based hydrodynamic spreading for cell sorting.
This method shows significant promise for isolating primary neural cells for research and therapeutic applications.