Automated leukocyte processing by microfluidic deterministic lateral displacement.

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Engineering
• Cell Biology
• Analytical Chemistry

Background:

• Deterministic Lateral Displacement (DLD) microfluidics offers label-free cell separation based on size.
• Previous DLD methods utilized silicon-based chips for cell separation.
• Automated, high-throughput cell preparation is crucial for clinical diagnostics and research.

Purpose of the Study:

• To demonstrate the practical application of DLD microfluidic technology using commercially produced plastic chips.
• To develop an automated workflow for preparing human leukocytes (white blood cells; WBCs) for flow cytometry.
• To evaluate the efficiency and quality of WBCs processed by the DLD microfluidic chip.

Main Methods:

• Human blood samples were incubated with fluorescent antibodies.
• Samples were processed through a plastic DLD microfluidic chip containing a micropost array.
• WBCs were separated from erythrocytes (red blood cells) and unbound antibodies based on cell size via DLD.

Main Results:

• The DLD microfluidic chip achieved an average WBC recovery of 88%.
• Erythrocytes were removed with an average efficiency of 99.985%.
• Unbound antibodies were cleared by over 99% within an average processing time of 18 minutes.

Conclusions:

• Cost-effective plastic DLD microchips enable rapid and automated leukocyte processing for high-quality flow cytometry.
• The DLD microchip provides excellent light scattering and fluorescence characteristics for immunolabeled WBCs.
• This technology holds potential for various research and clinical applications requiring cell enrichment or depletion from biological samples.