Inertial microfluidics for continuous separation of cells and particles

Separation of Leukocytes from Blood Using Spiral Channel with Trapezoid Cross-Section

“…One major challenge of utilizing a spiral microchannel in blood cell separation lies in the limited separation resolution and capacity of holding a vast number of RBCs without affecting the separation efficiency. One recent work showed that polystyrene particles with a diameter of 7.32, 9.92, 15.02, and 20.66 μm, respectively, could focus into four distinct bands in a spiral microchannel with 500 μm × 100 μm ( W × H ) rectangular cross-section at De = 16.3, at a very low concentration (0.005% volume fraction particle solution) . However, this design cannot be directly applied to a blood sample where the vast number of RBCs significantly broaden the stream width of RBCs due to cell–cell interactions and affect the focusing of other cells.…”

Large-Volume Microfluidic Cell Sorting for Biomedical Applications

“…For equilibrium separation, the performance of cell sorters mainly relies on the accurate focusing of both targeted and nontargeted cells at distinct locations in the curvilinear microchannels. Separation into 3 different particle sizes (10, 15, and 20 μm) (56) and separation into 4 different sizes (7.32, 9.92, 15.02, and 20.66 μm) (57) have been reported to have high efficiency (90%) using spiral microchannels with strategically placed outlets. In one study, Lee et al (58) employed a spiral system with multiple outlets to synchronize mammalian cultures and reported relatively high efficiency and throughput (approximately 15 × 10 6 cells/h).…”

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“…For equilibrium separation, the performance of cell sorters mainly relies on the accurate focusing of both targeted and nontargeted cells at distinct locations in the curvilinear microchannels. Separation into 3 different particle sizes (10, 15, and 20 µm) (56) and separation into 4 different sizes (7.32, 9.92, 15.02, and 20.66 µm) (57) have been reported to have high efficiency (90%) using spiral microchannels with strategically placed outlets. In one study, Lee et al ( 58) employed a spiral system with multiple outlets to synchronize mammalian cultures and reported relatively high efficiency and throughput (approximately 15 × 10 6 cells/h).…”