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Updated: Jul 10, 2025
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Clinical Microfluidic Chip Platform for the Isolation of Versatile Circulating Tumor Cells
Published on: October 13, 2023
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Deformability-Based Isolation of Circulating Tumor Cells in Spiral Microchannels
Roya Mohammadali1, Morteza Bayareh1
1Department of Mechanical Engineering, Shahrekord University, Shahrekord 88186-34141, Iran.
Micromachines
|November 25, 2023
Summary
This study introduces a novel method for isolating circulating tumor cells (CTCs) using microfluidic spiral channels. The technique leverages cell deformability for efficient, label-free sorting of cancer cells in clinical settings.
Area of Science:
- Biomedical Engineering
- Microfluidics
- Cancer Cell Biology
Background:
- Accurate isolation of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) is vital for early invasive cancer detection.
- Cell deformability is a key property that can be exploited for CTC isolation.
- Current methods for CTC analysis face challenges in scalability and label-free sorting.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop and analyze an inertial-based spiral microchannel system for sorting deformable CTCs.
- To investigate the impact of cell properties and channel design on CTC trajectory.
- To establish a scalable, label-free method for isolating biological cells.
Main Methods:
- Utilized the finite element method (FEM) and arbitrary Lagrangian-Eulerian (ALE) approach.
- Designed inertial-based spiral microchannels with varying numbers of loops.
- Simulated hydrodynamic behavior of CTCs under different conditions (deformability, size, channel geometry).
Main Results:
- Demonstrated that cell deformability, size, number of loops, and channel depth significantly influence CTC trajectories.
- Validated the effectiveness of spiral microchannels in sorting deformable cells based on their hydrodynamic behavior.
- Showcased the potential for label-free separation of biological cells.
Conclusions:
- Inertial-based spiral microchannels offer a promising platform for the label-free isolation of deformable CTCs.
- The findings support the scalability of this microfluidic approach for clinical applications.
- This method advances the preliminary identification and analysis of invasive cancers.
