Related Experiment Video
Updated: Nov 8, 2025
05:58
Clinical Microfluidic Chip Platform for the Isolation of Versatile Circulating Tumor Cells
Published on: October 13, 2023
1.5K
Vortex chip incorporating an orthogonal turn for size-based isolation of circulating cells
Navya Rastogi1, Pranjal Seth2, Ramray Bhat3
1Centre for Nano Science and Engineering, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, 560012, India.
Analytica Chimica Acta
|April 19, 2021
Summary
This study introduces a novel orthogonal vortex chip for gentle, label-free separation of rare cells. The device achieves efficient cell isolation at lower velocities, preserving cell viability for downstream applications.
Area of Science:
- Biotechnology
- Microfluidics
- Cell Separation
Background:
- Label-free, size-based rare cell separation is crucial for diagnostics.
- Existing vortex-trapping methods face challenges with high shear stress and cell damage due to high flow velocities.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop an improved vortex-trapping technique for gentle, size-differentiated cell separation.
- To reduce hydrodynamic shear stress during rare cell isolation.
Main Methods:
- An orthogonal vortex chip design with entry-exit channels was engineered.
- The 'turn-effect' phenomenon was utilized for size-based particle trapping at reduced flow velocities.
- Hydrodynamic forces (shear-gradient lift, centrifugal, Dean flow drag) were analyzed to explain particle behavior.
Main Results:
- The orthogonal vortex chip successfully trapped larger particles, including human breast cancer cells, at significantly lower velocities (38% of previous methods).
- Smaller particles were efficiently ejected, demonstrating size-dependent separation.
- The 'turn-effect' was characterized, showing its effectiveness in gentle cell isolation.
Conclusions:
- The orthogonal vortex chip offers a promising approach for gentle and efficient isolation of rare cells from complex biological samples like blood.
- This method enhances cell viability for subsequent analyses, overcoming limitations of high-throughput vortex-based techniques.
