A numbering-up strategy of hydrodynamic microfluidic filters for continuous-flow high-throughput cell sorting

Area of Science:

• Biotechnology
• Microfluidics
• Biomedical Engineering

Background:

• Existing microfluidic particle/cell sorting systems often lack sufficient throughput and operability.
• Developing facile and versatile platforms for high-throughput cell sorting remains a challenge.

Purpose of the Study:

• To present a numbering-up strategy for significantly increasing the throughput of hydrodynamic filtration (HDF)-based particle/cell sorting.
• To demonstrate a scalable microfluidic platform for efficient cell and particle separation.

Main Methods:

• Designed and fabricated microfluidic devices with multiple branched units for size-based filtration without sheath flows.
• Employed a numbering-up strategy, incorporating 64 or 128 units, based on resistive circuit models.
• Validated the system using micrometer-sized model particles and direct separation of blood cells (erythrocytes and leukocytes).

Main Results:

• Achieved precise size-based particle and cell sorting with a separation size of 5.0/7.0 μm.
• Successfully separated micrometer-sized model particles and blood cells from whole blood samples.
• Demonstrated scalability by laminating multiple layers, reaching processing speeds up to 15 mL min-1.

Conclusions:

• The numbering-up strategy offers a universally applicable approach to enhance microfluidic sorter throughput.
• This scalable microfluidic platform facilitates practical applications in biological studies and clinical diagnostics.
• The developed system provides a facile and versatile solution for high-throughput particle and cell sorting.