Silicon-based microfilters for whole blood cell separation

Abstract

This paper reports on the comparison analysis of four main types of silicon-based microfilter for isolation of white blood cells (WBCs) from red blood cells (RBCs) in a given whole blood. The microfilter designs, namely, weir, pillar, crossflow, and membrane, all impose the same cut-off size of 3.5 mum to selectively trap WBCs. Using human whole blood, the microfilters have been characterized and compared for their blood handling capacity, WBCs trapping efficiency and RBCs passing efficiency. Based on the experimental results, the crossflow microfilter is superior and can be integrated with downstream components for on-chip genomic analysis.

Efficient manipulation of microparticles in bubble streaming flows

“…[24][25][26] Particle sensitivity is less obvious here, but sizedependent, directional and selective transports of particles and cells in controlled fashion can be achieved in such setups as well. 27,28 Usually, this requires the introduction of very small structural elements on the order of the particle size. [24][25][26][27][28] Microbubbles, with a size of tens to hundred microns, have been used as powerful actuating elements for microfluidic applications in various contexts.…”

“…27,28 Usually, this requires the introduction of very small structural elements on the order of the particle size. [24][25][26][27][28] Microbubbles, with a size of tens to hundred microns, have been used as powerful actuating elements for microfluidic applications in various contexts. [29][30][31][32][33][34] Cyclic generation, growth and collapse of vapor bubbles from thermal heating can pump liquid.…”

Continuous particle separation based on electrical properties using alternating current dielectrophoresis

“…The dependence of the DEP force on the size and the electrical properties makes it possible for cell/ particle separation based on the size and electrical properties differences. Utilizing these, DEP has also been implemented for cell/particle separation [9,[23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38]. These separation applications include the separation of the cancer cells from the blood stream [23,24], the separation of the platelets from diluted whole blood [31], the separation of red blood cells and the white blood cells [34], the separation of viable and non-viable yeast cells [33], the separation of human leukocytes [25] and the separation of healthy and unhealthy oocyte cells [36].…”

A Comparative Study of Image Processing Methods for the Assessment of the Red Blood Cells Deformability in a Microfluidic Device

“…In these geometries, the size of the geometries determines the cells deformation [4]. Many literature studies use these structures (micropillars arrays and micro-weir filters), which create a cross-flow filtration to overcome some issues related with clogging and jamming [5,6]. However, for the best of the authors knowledge, the use of such structures was never used for separation and, at the same time, for measuring the deformation index of RBCs.…”