Design and Parameter Study of Integrated Microfluidic Platform for CTC Isolation and Enquiry; A Numerical Approach

Abstract

Being the second cause of mortality across the globe, there is now a persistent effort to establish new cancer medication and therapies. Any accomplishment in treating cancers entails the existence of accurate identification systems empowering the early diagnosis. Recent studies indicate CTCs’ potential in cancer prognosis as well as therapy monitoring. The chief shortcoming with CTCs is that they are exceedingly rare cells in their clinically relevant concentration. Here, we simulated a microfluidic construct devised for immunomagnetic separation of the particles of interest from the background cells. This separation unit is integrated with a mixer subunit. The mixer is envisioned for mixing the CTC enriched stream with lysis buffer to extract the biological material of the cell. Some modification was proposed on mixing geometry improving the efficacy of the functional unit. A valuation of engaged forces was made and some forces were neglected due to their order of magnitude. The position of the magnet was also optimized by doing parametric study. For the mixer unit, the effect of applied voltage and frequency on mixing index was studied to find the optimal voltage and frequency which provides better mixing. Above-mentioned studies were done on isolated units and the effect of each functional unit on the other is not studied. As the final step, an integrated microfluidic platform composed of both functional subunits was simulated simultaneously. To ensure the independence of results from the grid, grid studies were also performed. The studies carried out on the construct reveal its potential for diagnostic application.

Lab-on-Chip for Exosomes and Microvesicles Detection and Characterization

“…Magnetophoresis is a simple and non-invasive method and has been described as one of the most efficient to enrich for exososmes if compared with standard techniques, like differential centrifugation and density gradient isolation. After conjugation of superparamagnetic beads with capture probes and molecular recognition of the target analytes, the magnetized bio-conjugated beads can be easily extracted from the non-magnetic matrix by means of an external field [ 167 ]. Notably, as the magnetic force is not directly applied on the cells, this minimizes the possibility of induced damages and the reduction of cell viability, which is typical with dielectrophoresis.…”

An Aptamer-Based Capacitive Sensing Platform for Specific Detection of Lung Carcinoma Cells in the Microfluidic Chip

“…Developments is microfluidics and nanotechnology (for example, the development of good indicators of the presence of a primary tumor) have improved the detection and capture capabilities of tumor cells [6,7]. Recent advances of noninvasive tests based on surface-specific probes have received significant attention for cancer diagnosis and for the identification of cancer subtypes.…”

Design and Simulation of an Integrated Centrifugal Microfluidic Device for CTCs Separation and Cell Lysis

“…After designing a proper separation unit, a mixer unit is required to mix the separated target cells with lysis buffer to break down the cell membranes and extract DNA content for further study [ 45 ]. Mixing is one of the essential tasks in biological applications, and microfluidic systems can provide efficient micromixers for the mixing of a small amount of samples [ 26 ].…”