Search research articles

ABOUT JoVE

Overview Leadership Blog JoVE Help Center

AUTHORS

Publishing Process Editorial Board Scope & Policies Peer Review FAQ Submit

LIBRARIANS

Testimonials Subscriptions Access Resources Library Advisory Board FAQ

RESEARCH

JoVE Journal Methods Collections JoVE Encyclopedia of Experiments Archive

EDUCATION

JoVE Core JoVE Business JoVE Science Education JoVE Lab Manual Faculty Resource Center Faculty Site

Terms & Conditions of Use

Related Concept Videos

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.

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by

Same author

Organization and Dynamics of Focal Adhesions: Light Diffraction Analysis of Cellular Adhesion on Nanopatterned Surfaces.

ACS applied materials & interfaces·2026

Same author

Therapeutic drug monitoring and the role of pharmacokinetics/pharmacodynamics in optimizing beta-lactam antibiotic dosing for deep-seated infections: a systematic review.

The Journal of antimicrobial chemotherapy·2026

Same author

Destructive <i>Erysipelothrix rhusiopathiae</i> Endocarditis Confirmed on Valve Tissue Culture After Persistent Blood Culture Negativity.

Clinical case reports·2026

Same author

Correction: Kanyo et al. Kinetic Analysis of SARS-CoV-2 S1-Integrin Binding Using Live-Cell, Label-Free Optical Biosensing. <i>Biosensors</i> 2025, <i>15</i>, 534.

Biosensors·2026

Same author

Fluorescent properties of FDA-approved anti-leukemia drugs.

Biomedical optics express·2026

Same author

Two Cases of Q Fever in Pregnancy, including Management of the Newborn, Australia.

Emerging infectious diseases·2026

Search research articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Mar 26, 2026

Single Cell Micro-aspiration as an Alternative Strategy to Fluorescence-activated Cell Sorting for Giant Virus Mixture Separation

Single Cell Micro-aspiration as an Alternative Strategy to Fluorescence-activated Cell Sorting for Giant Virus Mixture Separation

Published on: October 27, 2019

Automated single cell isolation from suspension with computer vision.

Rita Ungai-Salánki^1,2,3, Tamás Gerecsei³, Péter Fürjes⁴

¹Doctoral School of Molecular- and Nanotechnologies, University of Pannonia, Veszprém, Hungary.

Scientific Reports

|February 10, 2016

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

A new robotic system uses computer vision and a micropipette to gently isolate intact single cells for analysis. This advanced cell isolation method improves recovery rates and enables rare cell retrieval from various tissues.

More Related Videos

Isolation of Murine Retinal Endothelial Cells for Next-Generation Sequencing

Isolation of Murine Retinal Endothelial Cells for Next-Generation Sequencing

Published on: October 11, 2021

A Microfluidic Platform for High-throughput Single-cell Isolation and Culture

A Microfluidic Platform for High-throughput Single-cell Isolation and Culture

Published on: June 16, 2016

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Mar 26, 2026

Single Cell Micro-aspiration as an Alternative Strategy to Fluorescence-activated Cell Sorting for Giant Virus Mixture Separation

Single Cell Micro-aspiration as an Alternative Strategy to Fluorescence-activated Cell Sorting for Giant Virus Mixture Separation

Published on: October 27, 2019

Isolation of Murine Retinal Endothelial Cells for Next-Generation Sequencing

Isolation of Murine Retinal Endothelial Cells for Next-Generation Sequencing

Published on: October 11, 2021

A Microfluidic Platform for High-throughput Single-cell Isolation and Culture

A Microfluidic Platform for High-throughput Single-cell Isolation and Culture

Published on: June 16, 2016

Area of Science:

Biotechnology
Robotics
Cell Biology

Background:

Current robotic systems have limitations in manipulating non-surface-attached cells, restricting their application in single-cell analysis.
Handling individual cells for downstream applications like genomic sequencing requires high precision and minimal sample disruption.

Purpose of the Study:

To develop a computer vision-based robotic system for precise and gentle isolation of intact single cells.
To enable downstream analysis of individual cells, including DNA/RNA sequencing, from minimal sample volumes.

Main Methods:

Utilized a motorized microscope and micropipette integrated with computer vision for cell recognition and isolation.
Achieved high positioning precision (1 μm) and low-volume liquid handling (below 1 nL).
Developed adaptive cell targeting and successive sorting processes for isolating rare cells from dense populations.

Main Results:

The system successfully isolated intact single cells from a thin layer of cell suspension for subsequent analysis.
Demonstrated high accuracy and efficiency in robotic single-cell isolation, with sorting speeds of 3 cells/min into plates and 2 cells/min into PCR tubes.
Significantly improved the recovery rate of single cells compared to microwell-based methods, particularly for isolating rare cells from complex mixtures.

Conclusions:

The developed robotic system overcomes limitations of current technologies for single-cell handling.
Offers a versatile solution for isolating intact cells from diverse tissue types with minimal preparation.
Represents a significant advancement in robotic single-cell isolation accuracy and efficiency for various biological applications.