Non-equilibrium Inertial Separation Array for High-throughput, Large-volume Blood Fractionation

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Engineering
• Microfluidics
• Cell Separation Technology

Background:

• Microfluidic blood processing is crucial for diagnostics and therapeutics.
• Clinical translation requires scalable, high-throughput, and robust blood processing methods.
• Current methods face challenges in processing large volumes quickly and reliably.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce a scaled, label-free cell separation mechanism for efficient blood processing.
• To demonstrate a microfluidic device capable of processing large blood volumes rapidly.
• To provide a robust solution for clinical applications requiring precise cell fractionation.

Main Methods:

• Development of a non-equilibrium inertial separation array (NISA) using passive islands.
• Utilizing inertial lift forces for gentle, label-free cell manipulation.
• Siphoning a fraction of flow to separate cells based on size-dependent deterministic paths.

Main Results:

• Successfully fractionated 400 mL of whole blood in under 3 hours.
• Achieved an ultrapure buffy coat with 96.6% white blood cell yield.
• Demonstrated minimal red blood cell carryover (0.0059%) at a processing rate of 3 mL/min.

Conclusions:

• The NISA device offers a feasible and efficient alternative for blood fractionation.
• This technology can support blood transfusion, cellular therapy, and diagnostics.
• Improved sensitivity for rare cell isolation is possible by increasing processed blood volumes.