Whilst locoregional control of head and neck cancers (HNCs) has improved over the last four decades, long-term survival has remained largely unchanged. A possible reason for this is that the rate of distant metastasis has not changed. Such disseminated disease is reflected in measurable levels of cancer cells in the blood of HNC patients, referred to as circulating tumour cells (CTCs). Numerous marker-independent techniques have been developed for CTC isolation and detection. Recently, microfluidics-based platforms have come to the fore to avoid molecular bias. In this pilot, proof of concept study, we evaluated the use of the spiral microfluidic chip for CTC enrichment and subsequent detection in HNC patients. CTCs were detected in 13/24 (54%) HNC patients, representing both early to late stages of disease. Importantly, in 7/13 CTC-positive patients, CTC clusters were observed. This is the first study to use spiral microfluidics technology for CTC enrichment in HNC.

Microelectrode arrays (MEAs) enable non-invasive recording of supra-threshold signals, i.e. action potentials or spikes, from a variety of cultured electrically active cells. While this labelfree technology has been shown to be useful for pharmacological and toxicological studies, a major limitation has been the reliance on expensive recording substrates that have been manufactured with the intent of re-use. Prior work by our group has demonstrated an approach for fabricating MEAs using conventional liquid crystal display manufacturing techniques. Here, we describe and characterize the UT Dallas planar MEA which is fabricated with low cost materials and processes. We compare the performance of the UT Dallas MEAs, which consist of exposed gold microelectrodes with patterned parylene insulation over traces, with wellestablished commercially available MEAs using cultured murine cortical networks. Detailed electrophysiological comparisons show virtually identical performance between MEA types with respect to network metrics including recording yield across the array, network spike rate and burst rate, and virtually identical pharmacological responses to a diverse set of neuropharmacological agents.

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