Hydrodynamic Cavitation on a Chip: A Tool to Detect Circulating Tumor Cells

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Engineering
• Nanotechnology
• Cancer Research

Background:

• Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) are crucial biomarkers for cancer diagnosis and prognosis.
• Existing CTC detection methods often suffer from drawbacks like labeling requirements, lengthy processing times, and high costs.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate a microfluidic device for rapid, label-free detection of CTCs.
• To leverage the phenomenon of hydrodynamic cavitation for CTC identification.

Main Methods:

• A microfluidic device employing hydrodynamic cavitation-on-chip (HCOC) was designed and fabricated.
• The device operates by measuring the pressure required for cavitation inception, which varies with the presence of CTCs.
• Experiments involved testing cell culture media with and without spiked CTCs (MDA-MB-231) and white blood cells (Jurkat cells).
• The impact of CTC concentration and microfluidic chip sidewall roughness on cavitation inception was evaluated.

Main Results:

• The HCOC device successfully detected CTCs within minutes.
• The presence of CTCs altered the cavitation inception pressure, enabling their detection.
• Earlier cavitation inception was observed in samples containing CTCs.
• The method demonstrated effectiveness in detecting spiked cancer cells in blood samples from healthy donors.

Conclusions:

• The HCOC approach provides a rapid, cost-effective, and user-friendly tool for CTC detection.
• This label-free method bypasses the need for biomarkers or biosensors.
• The technology shows significant potential for improving early cancer diagnosis and monitoring.