Hand-Powered Inertial Microfluidic Syringe-Tip Centrifuge

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Engineering
• Microfluidics
• Diagnostics

Background:

• Conventional sample preparation for diagnostics is hampered by expensive, bulky equipment, limiting point-of-care applications.
• Next-generation diagnostics require portable, cost-effective, and efficient sample preparation methods.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a manually operated, low-cost inertial microfluidic centrifuge for high-flow-rate cell concentration.
• To demonstrate the working mechanism and performance of the developed i-centrifuge for point-of-care diagnostic sample preparation.

Main Methods:

• Constructed a syringe-tip inertial microfluidic centrifuge (i-centrifuge) using laser cutting and lamination bonding of polymer films and tape.
• Integrated a syringe-tip flow stabilizer with a four-channel paralleled inertial microfluidic concentrator.
• Utilized manual syringe operation to regulate flow and achieve inertial focusing for cell concentration.

Main Results:

• Achieved high-flow-rate (up to 16 mL/min) cell concentration using the manually operated i-centrifuge.
• Demonstrated the effectiveness of the flow stabilizer in regulating unstable syringe flow for inertial microfluidics.
• Successfully concentrated cells manually, validating the device's performance.

Conclusions:

• The i-centrifuge is a low-cost, portable sample preparation tool suitable for point-of-care diagnostic testing.
• Its simple, hand-powered operation and high-flow-rate capability address limitations of conventional methods.
• This technology holds significant potential for improving accessibility and efficiency in diagnostic testing.