An automated microfluidic sample preparation system for laser scanning cytometry

Laser scanning cytometry (LSC) is emerging as a clinical tool. In one application a "Clatch" slide, named after the inventor, is used in conjunction with LSC for cell surface marker immunophenotyping of patient samples. The slide requires time consuming and laborious pipetting steps, making a test tedious and prone to handling errors. The Clatch slide also uses a significant number of cells, limiting the number of analyses on paucicellular samples. This paper presents an automated microfluidic system consisting of a control circuit, a microfluidic system, and an aluminum frame, capable of performing immunophenotyping procedures. This prototype system reduces 36 pipetting steps to 1, reduces the amount of cell sample from 180 μL to 56 μL, and shortens the time used by technicians.