Related Experiment Video
Updated: Oct 18, 2025
Automatic Separation and Collection of Cancer-Related Substances from Clinical Samples
Published on: January 13, 2023
Separation of ctDNA by superparamagnetic bead particles in microfluidic platform for early cancer detection
Samla Gauri Balakrishnan1, Mohd Ridzuan Ahmad1, Seyed Saeid Rahimian Koloor2
1Division of Control and Mechatronics Engineering, School of Electrical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, 81310 Skudai, Johor, Malaysia.
Introduction:
Conventional biopsy, based on extraction from a tumor of a solid tissue specimen requiring needles, endoscopic devices, excision or surgery, is at risk of infection, internal bleeding or prolonged recovery. A non-invasive liquid biopsy is one of the greatest axiomatic consequences of the identification of circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) as a replaceable surgical tumor bioQpsy technique. Most of the literature studies thus far presented ctDNA detection at almost final stage III or IV of cancer, where the treatment option or cancer management is nearly impossible for diagnosis.
Objective:
Hence, this paper aims to present a simulation study of extraction and separation of ctDNA from the blood plasma of cancer patients of stage I and II by superparamagnetic (SPM) bead particles in a microfluidic platform for early and effective cancer detection.
Method:
The extraction of ctDNA is based on microfiltration of particle size to filter some impurities and thrombocytes plasma, while the separation of ctDNA is based on magnetic manipulation to high yield that can be used for the upstream process.
Result:
Based on the simulation results, an average of 5.7 ng of ctDNA was separated efficiently for every 10 µL blood plasma input and this can be used for early analysis of cancer management. The particle tracing module from COMSOL Multiphysics traced ctDNA with 65.57% of sensitivity and 95.38% of specificity.
Conclusion:
The findings demonstrate the ease of use and versatility of a microfluidics platform and SPM bead particles in clinical research related to the preparation of biological samples. As a sample preparation stage for early analysis and cancer diagnosis, the extraction and separation of ctDNA is most important, so precision medicine can be administered.
