1
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Mika T, Kalnins M, Spalvins K. The use of droplet-based microfluidic technologies for accelerated selection of Yarrowia lipolytica and Phaffia rhodozyma yeast mutants. Biol Methods Protoc 2024; 9:bpae049. [PMID: 39114747 PMCID: PMC11303513 DOI: 10.1093/biomethods/bpae049] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/11/2024] [Revised: 06/24/2024] [Accepted: 07/09/2024] [Indexed: 08/10/2024] Open
Abstract
Microorganisms are widely used for the industrial production of various valuable products, such as pharmaceuticals, food and beverages, biofuels, enzymes, amino acids, vaccines, etc. Research is constantly carried out to improve their properties, mainly to increase their productivity and efficiency and reduce the cost of the processes. The selection of microorganisms with improved qualities takes a lot of time and resources (both human and material); therefore, this process itself needs optimization. In the last two decades, microfluidics technology appeared in bioengineering, which allows for manipulating small particles (from tens of microns to nanometre scale) in the flow of liquid in microchannels. The technology is based on small-volume objects (microdroplets from nano to femtolitres), which are manipulated using a microchip. The chip is made of an optically transparent inert to liquid medium material and contains a series of channels of small size (<1 mm) of certain geometry. Based on the physical and chemical properties of microparticles (like size, weight, optical density, dielectric constant, etc.), they are separated using microsensors. The idea of accelerated selection of microorganisms is the application of microfluidic technologies to separate mutants with improved qualities after mutagenesis. This article discusses the possible application and practical implementation of microfluidic separation of mutants, including yeasts like Yarrowia lipolytica and Phaffia rhodozyma after chemical mutagenesis will be discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Taras Mika
- Institute of Energy Systems and Environment, Riga Technical University, 12 – K1 Āzene street, Riga, LV-1048, Latvia
| | - Martins Kalnins
- Institute of Energy Systems and Environment, Riga Technical University, 12 – K1 Āzene street, Riga, LV-1048, Latvia
| | - Kriss Spalvins
- Institute of Energy Systems and Environment, Riga Technical University, 12 – K1 Āzene street, Riga, LV-1048, Latvia
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2
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Fernández-Mateo R, García-Sánchez P, Ramos A, Morgan H. Concentration-polarization electroosmosis for particle fractionation. LAB ON A CHIP 2024; 24:2968-2974. [PMID: 38726642 DOI: 10.1039/d4lc00081a] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/29/2024]
Abstract
Concentration-polarization electroosmosis (CPEO) refers to steady-state electroosmotic flows around charged dielectric micro-particles induced by low-frequency AC electric fields. Recently, these flows were shown to cause repulsion of colloidal particles from the wall of a microfluidic channel when an electric field is applied along the length of the channel. In this work, we exploit this mechanism to demonstrate fractionation of micron-sized polystyrene particles and bacteria in a flow-focusing device. The results are in agreement with predictions of the CPEO theory. The ease of implementation of CPEO-based fractionation in microfluidics makes it an ideal candidate for combining with current techniques commonly used to generate particle lift, such as inertial or viscoelastic focusing, requiring no extra fabrication steps other than inserting two electrodes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Raúl Fernández-Mateo
- School of Electronics and Computer Science, University of Southampton, Southampton SO17 1BJ, UK.
| | - Pablo García-Sánchez
- Depto. Electrónica y Electromagnetismo, Facultad de Física, Universidad de Sevilla, Avda. Reina Mercedes s/n, 41012, Sevilla, Spain
| | - Antonio Ramos
- Depto. Electrónica y Electromagnetismo, Facultad de Física, Universidad de Sevilla, Avda. Reina Mercedes s/n, 41012, Sevilla, Spain
| | - Hywel Morgan
- School of Electronics and Computer Science, University of Southampton, Southampton SO17 1BJ, UK.
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3
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Uddin MR, Chen X. Enhancing cell separation in a hybrid spiral dielectrophoretic microchannel: Numerical insights and optimal operating conditions. Biotechnol Prog 2024; 40:e3437. [PMID: 38289677 DOI: 10.1002/btpr.3437] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/10/2023] [Revised: 12/27/2023] [Accepted: 01/16/2024] [Indexed: 02/01/2024]
Abstract
Reliable separation of circulating tumor cells from blood cells is crucial for early cancer diagnosis and prognosis. Many conventional microfluidic platforms take advantage of the size difference between particles for their separation, which renders them impractical for sorting overlapping-sized cells. To address this concern, a hybrid inertial-dielectrophoretic microfluidic chip is proposed in this work for continuous and single-stage separation of lung cancer cell line A549 cells from white blood cells of overlapping size. The working mechanism of the proposed spiral microchannel embedded with planar interdigitated electrodes is validated against the experimental results. A numerical investigation is carried out over a range of flow conditions and electric field intensity to determine the separation efficiency and migration characteristics of the cell mixture. The results demonstrate the unique capability of the proposed microchannel to achieve high-throughput separation of cells at low applied voltages in both vertical and lateral directions. A significant lateral separation distance between the CTCs and the WBCs has been achieved, which allows for high-resolution and effective separation of cells. The separation resolution can be controlled by adjusting the strength of the applied electric field. Furthermore, the results demonstrate that the lateral separation distance is maximum at a voltage termed the critical voltage, which increases with the increase in the flow rate. The proposed microchannel and the developed technique can provide valuable insight into the development of a tunable and robust medical device for effective and high-throughput separation of cancer cells from the WBCs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mohammed Raihan Uddin
- Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, USA
| | - Xiaolin Chen
- School of Engineering and Computer Science, Washington State University, Vancouver, Washington, USA
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4
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Chen X, Chen X. A novel electrophoretic assisted hydrophobic microdevice for enhancing blood cell sorting: design and numerical simulation. ANALYTICAL METHODS : ADVANCING METHODS AND APPLICATIONS 2024; 16:2368-2377. [PMID: 38572530 DOI: 10.1039/d4ay00196f] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/05/2024]
Abstract
Microfluidic technology has great advantages in the precise manipulation of micro-nano particles, and the hybrid microfluidic separation technology has attracted much attention due to the advantages of both active and passive separation technology at the same time. In this paper, the hydrophoresis sorting technique is combined with the dielectrophoresis technique, and a dielectrophoresis-assisted hydrophoresis microdevice is studied to separate blood cells. By using the dielectrophoresis force to change the suspension position of the cells in the channel, the scope of the hydrophoresis device for sorting particles is expanded. At the same time, the effects of microchannel width, fluid velocity, and electrode voltage on cell sorting were discussed, and the cell separation process was simulated. This work has laid a certain theoretical foundation for the rapid diagnosis of diseases in practical applications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xinkun Chen
- College of Transportation, Ludong University, Yantai, Shandong 264025, China.
| | - Xueye Chen
- College of Transportation, Ludong University, Yantai, Shandong 264025, China.
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5
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Nasir Ahamed NN, Mendiola-Escobedo CA, Perez-Gonzalez VH, Lapizco-Encinas BH. Manipulating the insulating post arrangement in DC-biased AC-iEK devices to improve microparticle separations. Analyst 2024; 149:2469-2479. [PMID: 38516870 DOI: 10.1039/d3an02160b] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/23/2024]
Abstract
There is a growing interest in the advancement of microscale electrokinetic (EK) systems for biomedical and clinical applications, as these systems offer attractive characteristics such as portability, robustness, low sample requirements and short response time. The present work is focused on manipulating the characteristics of the insulating post arrangement in insulator-based EK (iEK) systems for separating a binary mixture of spherical microparticles with same diameter (5.1 μm), same shape, made from the same substrate material and only differing in their zeta potential by ∼14 mV. This study presents a combination of mathematical modeling and experimental separations performed by applying a low-frequency alternating current (AC) voltage in iEK systems with 12 distinct post arrangements. These iEK devices were used to systematically study the effect of three spatial characteristics of the insulating post array on particle separations: the horizontal separation and the vertical separation between posts, and introducing an offset to the posts arrangement. Through normalization of the spatial separation between the insulating posts with respect to particle diameter, guidelines to improve separation resolution for different particle mixtures possessing similar characteristics were successfully identified. The results indicated that by carefully designing the spatial arrangement of the post array, separation resolution values in the range of 1.4-2.8 can be obtained, illustrating the importance and effect of the arrangement of insulating posts on improving particle separations. This study demonstrates that iEK devices, with effectively designed spatial arrangement of the insulating post arrays, have the capabilities to perform discriminatory separations of microparticles of similar characteristics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nuzhet Nihaar Nasir Ahamed
- Microscale Bioseparations Laboratory and Biomedical Engineering Department, Rochester Institute of Technology, 160 Lomb Memorial Drive, Rochester, New York, 14623, USA.
| | | | - Victor H Perez-Gonzalez
- School of Engineering and Sciences, Tecnologico de Monterrey, Monterrey, Nuevo Leon 64849, Mexico.
| | - Blanca H Lapizco-Encinas
- Microscale Bioseparations Laboratory and Biomedical Engineering Department, Rochester Institute of Technology, 160 Lomb Memorial Drive, Rochester, New York, 14623, USA.
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6
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Zhang J, Tang H, Zhang J, Zhang Z. Mesoscopic simulation of multi-scheme particle separation in deterministic lateral displacement devices using two-piece hybrid pillars. J Chromatogr A 2023; 1711:464434. [PMID: 37837711 DOI: 10.1016/j.chroma.2023.464434] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/29/2023] [Revised: 09/16/2023] [Accepted: 10/05/2023] [Indexed: 10/16/2023]
Abstract
Pillar shape exploration in deterministic lateral displacement (DLD) technique holds great promise for developing high-performance microfluidic devices with versatile sorting schemes. A recent innovative design using filter-like micropillars was proposed to improve cell separation, but its significance might be greatly underestimated due to an inaccurate understanding of the underlying mechanism. In this study, we employ mesoscopic hydrodynamic simulations to explore the movement and separation of rigid spherical particles in DLD arrays using various two-piece hybrid (TPH) pillars, where each pillar consists of two individual pieces separated by a tunable inter-piece channel. In comparison with the conventional one-piece pillars, the back piece of TPH-pillars is found to hierarchically tailor the flow profile of the front piece on the basis of the row shift fraction and the inter-piece channel width, resulting in unique tunable multi-scheme separation at low, intermediate, and high row shift fractions, respectively. At the intermediate regime, in particular, the first flow lane that determines the critical separation size could be physically fenced out by the inter-piece channel, and a delicate coupling of hydrodynamic filtration and DLD has been revealed to induce a constant critical size in the whole regime. This work theoretically demonstrates the feasibility and significance of TPH-pillars, which may open up a new direction of the geometry design by exploiting rich multi-piece hybrid structures to expand the versatility of the DLD technique.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jinliang Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Materials-Oriented Chemical Engineering, College of Chemical Engineering, Nanjing Tech University, Nanjing 211816, China
| | - Haoxiang Tang
- State Key Laboratory of Materials-Oriented Chemical Engineering, College of Chemical Engineering, Nanjing Tech University, Nanjing 211816, China
| | - Jianchuan Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Materials-Oriented Chemical Engineering, College of Chemical Engineering, Nanjing Tech University, Nanjing 211816, China
| | - Zunmin Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Materials-Oriented Chemical Engineering, College of Chemical Engineering, Nanjing Tech University, Nanjing 211816, China.
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7
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Li G, Ji Y, Wu Y, Liu Y, Li H, Wang Y, Chi M, Sun H, Zhu H. Multistage microfluidic cell sorting method and chip based on size and stiffness. Biosens Bioelectron 2023; 237:115451. [PMID: 37327603 DOI: 10.1016/j.bios.2023.115451] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/17/2023] [Revised: 05/13/2023] [Accepted: 06/05/2023] [Indexed: 06/18/2023]
Abstract
High performance sorting of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) from peripheral blood is key to liquid biopsies. Size-based deterministic lateral displacement (DLD) technique is widely used in cell sorting. But conventional microcolumns have poor fluid regulation ability, which limits the sorting performance of DLD. When the size difference between CTCs and leukocytes is small (e.g., less than 3 μm), not only DLD, many size-based separation techniques fail due to low specificity. CTCs have been confirmed to be softer than leukocytes, which could serve as a basis for sorting. In this study, we presented a multistage microfluidic CTCs sorting method, first sorting CTCs using a size-based two-array DLD chip, then purifying CTCs mixed by leukocytes using a stiffness-based cone channel chip, and finally identifying cell types using Raman techniques. The entire CTCs sorting and analysis process was label free, highly pure, high-throughput and efficient. The two-array DLD chip employed a droplet-shaped microcolumn (DMC) developed by optimization design rather than empirical design. Attributed to the excellent fluid regulation capability of DMC, the CTCs sorter system developed by parallelizing four DMC two-array DLD chips was able to process a sample of 2.5 mL per minute with a recovery efficiency of 96.30 ± 2.10% and a purity of 98.25 ± 2.48%. To isolate CTCs mixed dimensionally by leukocytes, a cone channel sorting method and chip were developed based on solid and hydrodynamic coupled analysis. The cone channel chip allowed CTCs to pass through the channel and entrap leukocytes, improving the purity of CTCs mixed by leukocytes by 1.8-fold.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gaolin Li
- Changchun Institute of Optics, Fine Mechanics and Physics (CIOMP), Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changchun, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Yuan Ji
- Changchun Institute of Optics, Fine Mechanics and Physics (CIOMP), Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changchun, China
| | - Yihui Wu
- Changchun Institute of Optics, Fine Mechanics and Physics (CIOMP), Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changchun, China.
| | - Yongshun Liu
- Changchun Institute of Optics, Fine Mechanics and Physics (CIOMP), Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changchun, China
| | - Huan Li
- Changchun Institute of Optics, Fine Mechanics and Physics (CIOMP), Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changchun, China.
| | - Yimeng Wang
- Changchun Institute of Optics, Fine Mechanics and Physics (CIOMP), Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changchun, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Mingbo Chi
- Changchun Institute of Optics, Fine Mechanics and Physics (CIOMP), Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changchun, China
| | - Hongyan Sun
- Department of Clinical Laboratory, The Second Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun, China
| | - Hongquan Zhu
- Department of Clinical Laboratory, The Second Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun, China
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8
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Calero V, Fernández-Mateo R, Morgan H, García-Sánchez P, Ramos A. Low-frequency electrokinetics in a periodic pillar array for particle separation. J Chromatogr A 2023; 1706:464240. [PMID: 37544238 DOI: 10.1016/j.chroma.2023.464240] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/18/2023] [Revised: 07/18/2023] [Accepted: 07/23/2023] [Indexed: 08/08/2023]
Abstract
Deterministic Lateral Displacement (DLD) exploits periodic arrays of pillars inside microfluidic channels for high-precision sorting of micro- and nano-particles. Previously we demonstrated how DLD separation can be significantly improved by the addition of AC electrokinetic forces, increasing the tunability of the technique and expanding the range of applications. At high frequencies of the electric field (>1 kHz) the behaviour of such systems is dominated by Dielectrophoresis (DEP), whereas at low frequencies the particle behaviour is much richer and more complex. In this article, we present a detailed numerical analysis of the mechanisms governing particle motion in a DLD micropillar array in the presence of a low-frequency AC electric field. We show how a combination of Electrophoresis (EP) and Concentration-Polarisation Electroosmosis (CPEO) driven wall-particle repulsion account for the observed experimental behaviour of particles, and demonstrate how this complete model can predict conditions that lead to electrically induced deviation of particles much smaller than the critical size of the DLD array.
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Affiliation(s)
- Víctor Calero
- Depto. Electrónica y Electromagnetismo, Facultad de Física, Universidad de Sevilla, Avda. Reina Mercedes s/n, 41012, Sevilla, Spain; International Iberian Nanotechnology Laboratory (INL), Braga 4715-330, Portugal
| | - Raúl Fernández-Mateo
- School of Electronics and Computer Science, University of Southampton, Southampton SO17 1BJ, United Kingdom
| | - Hywel Morgan
- School of Electronics and Computer Science, University of Southampton, Southampton SO17 1BJ, United Kingdom
| | - Pablo García-Sánchez
- Depto. Electrónica y Electromagnetismo, Facultad de Física, Universidad de Sevilla, Avda. Reina Mercedes s/n, 41012, Sevilla, Spain.
| | - Antonio Ramos
- Depto. Electrónica y Electromagnetismo, Facultad de Física, Universidad de Sevilla, Avda. Reina Mercedes s/n, 41012, Sevilla, Spain
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9
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Yaghoubi Naei V, Bordhan P, Mirakhorli F, Khorrami M, Shrestha J, Nazari H, Kulasinghe A, Ebrahimi Warkiani M. Advances in novel strategies for isolation, characterization, and analysis of CTCs and ctDNA. Ther Adv Med Oncol 2023; 15:17588359231192401. [PMID: 37692363 PMCID: PMC10486235 DOI: 10.1177/17588359231192401] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/24/2022] [Accepted: 07/19/2023] [Indexed: 09/12/2023] Open
Abstract
Over the past decade, the detection and analysis of liquid biopsy biomarkers such as circulating tumor cells (CTCs) and circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) have advanced significantly. They have received recognition for their clinical usefulness in detecting cancer at an early stage, monitoring disease, and evaluating treatment response. The emergence of liquid biopsy has been a helpful development, as it offers a minimally invasive, rapid, real-time monitoring, and possible alternative to traditional tissue biopsies. In resource-limited settings, the ideal platform for liquid biopsy should not only extract more CTCs or ctDNA from a minimal sample volume but also accurately represent the molecular heterogeneity of the patient's disease. This review covers novel strategies and advancements in CTC and ctDNA-based liquid biopsy platforms, including microfluidic applications and comprehensive analysis of molecular complexity. We discuss these systems' operational principles and performance efficiencies, as well as future opportunities and challenges for their implementation in clinical settings. In addition, we emphasize the importance of integrated platforms that incorporate machine learning and artificial intelligence in accurate liquid biopsy detection systems, which can greatly improve cancer management and enable precision diagnostics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vahid Yaghoubi Naei
- School of Biomedical Engineering, University of Technology Sydney, Sydney, Australia
- Faculty of Medicine, Frazer Institute, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
| | - Pritam Bordhan
- School of Biomedical Engineering, University of Technology Sydney, Sydney, Australia
- Faculty of Science, Institute for Biomedical Materials & Devices, University of Technology Sydney, Australia
| | - Fatemeh Mirakhorli
- School of Biomedical Engineering, University of Technology Sydney, Sydney, Australia
| | - Motahare Khorrami
- Immunology Research Center, School of Medicine, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran
| | - Jesus Shrestha
- School of Biomedical Engineering, University of Technology Sydney, Sydney, Australia
| | - Hojjatollah Nazari
- School of Biomedical Engineering, University of Technology Sydney, Sydney, Australia
| | - Arutha Kulasinghe
- Faculty of Medicine, Frazer Institute, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
| | - Majid Ebrahimi Warkiani
- School of Biomedical Engineering, University of Technology Sydney, 1, Broadway, Ultimo New South Wales 2007, Australia
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10
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Aghajanloo B, Ejeian F, Frascella F, Marasso SL, Cocuzza M, Tehrani AF, Nasr Esfahani MH, Inglis DW. Pumpless deterministic lateral displacement separation using a paper capillary wick. LAB ON A CHIP 2023; 23:2106-2112. [PMID: 36943724 DOI: 10.1039/d3lc00039g] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/18/2023]
Abstract
Deterministic lateral displacement (DLD) is a passive separation method that separates particles by hydrodynamic size. This label-free method is a promising technique for cell separation because of its high size resolution and insensitivity to flow rate. Development of capillary-driven microfluidic technologies allows microfluidic devices to be operated without any external power for fluid pumping, lowering their total cost and complexity. Herein, we develop and test a DLD-based particle and cell sorting method that is driven entirely by capillary pressure. We show microchip self-filling, flow focusing, flow stability, and capture of separated particles. We achieve separation efficiency of 92% for particle-particle separation and more than 99% efficiency for cell-particle separation. The high performance of driven flow and separation along with simplicity of the operation and setup make it a valuable candidate for point-of-care devices.
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Affiliation(s)
- Behrouz Aghajanloo
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, Isfahan University of Technology, Isfahan, Iran
- Department of Animal Biotechnology, Cell Science Research Center, Royan Institute for Biotechnology, ACECR, Isfahan, Iran
- DISAT, Politecnico di Torino, Turin, Italy
- School of Engineering, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia.
| | - Fatemeh Ejeian
- Department of Animal Biotechnology, Cell Science Research Center, Royan Institute for Biotechnology, ACECR, Isfahan, Iran
| | | | - Simone L Marasso
- DISAT, Politecnico di Torino, Turin, Italy
- CNR-IMEM, Parma, Italy
| | - Matteo Cocuzza
- DISAT, Politecnico di Torino, Turin, Italy
- CNR-IMEM, Parma, Italy
| | | | - Mohammad Hossein Nasr Esfahani
- Department of Animal Biotechnology, Cell Science Research Center, Royan Institute for Biotechnology, ACECR, Isfahan, Iran
| | - David W Inglis
- School of Engineering, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia.
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11
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Tottori N, Nisisako T. Tunable deterministic lateral displacement of particles flowing through thermo-responsive hydrogel micropillar arrays. Sci Rep 2023; 13:4994. [PMID: 36973401 PMCID: PMC10043002 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-32233-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/27/2022] [Accepted: 03/24/2023] [Indexed: 03/29/2023] Open
Abstract
Deterministic lateral displacement (DLD) is a promising technology that allows for the continuous and the size-based separation of suspended particles at a high resolution through periodically arrayed micropillars. In conventional DLD, the critical diameter (Dc), which determines the migration mode of a particle of a particular size, is fixed by the device geometry. Here, we propose a novel DLD that uses the pillars of a thermo-responsive hydrogel, poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAM) to flexibly tune the Dc value. Upon heating and cooling, the PNIPAM pillars in the aqueous solution shrink and swell because of their hydrophobic-hydrophilic phase transitions as the temperature varies. Using the PNIPAM pillars confined in a poly(dimethylsiloxane) microchannel, we demonstrate continuous switching of particle (7-μm beads) trajectories (displacement or zigzag mode) by adjusting the Dc through temperature control of the device on a Peltier element. Further, we perform on/off operation of the particle separation (7-μm and 2-μm beads) by adjusting the Dc values.
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Affiliation(s)
- Naotomo Tottori
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, School of Engineering, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Tokyo, Japan
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan
| | - Takasi Nisisako
- Laboratory for Future Interdisciplinary Research of Science and Technology (FIRST), Institute of Innovative Research, Tokyo Institute of Technology, R2-9, 4259 Nagatsuta-cho, Midori-ku, Yokohama, 226-8503, Japan.
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12
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Flores-Mena JE, García-Sánchez P, Ramos A. Scattering of Metal Colloids by a Circular Post under Electric Fields. MICROMACHINES 2022; 14:23. [PMID: 36677083 PMCID: PMC9866174 DOI: 10.3390/mi14010023] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/22/2022] [Revised: 12/12/2022] [Accepted: 12/17/2022] [Indexed: 06/17/2023]
Abstract
We consider the scattering of metal colloids in aqueous solutions by an insulating circular post under the action of an AC electric field. We analyze the effects on the particle of several forces of electrical origin: the repulsion between the induced dipole of the particle and its image dipole in the post, the hydrodynamic interaction with the post due to the induced-charge electroosmotic (ICEO) flow around the particle, and the dielectrophoresis arising from the distortion of the applied electric field around the post. The relative influence of these forces is discussed as a function of frequency of the AC field, particle size and distance to the post. We perform numerical simulations of the scattering of the metal colloid by the insulating circular post flowing in a microchannel and subjected to alternating current electric fields. Our simulation results show that the maximum particle deviation is found for an applied electric field parallel to the flow direction. The deviation is also greater at low electric field frequencies, corresponding to the regime in which the ICEO's interaction with the post is predominant over other mechanisms.
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Affiliation(s)
- José Eladio Flores-Mena
- Facultad de Ciencias de la Electrónica, Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla, Av. San Claudio y 18 Sur, San Manuel, CU. FCE2, Puebla 72570, Mexico
| | - Pablo García-Sánchez
- Departamento Electrónica y Electromagnetismo, Facultad de Física, Universidad de Sevilla, Avda. Reina Mercedes s/n, 41012 Sevilla, Spain
| | - Antonio Ramos
- Departamento Electrónica y Electromagnetismo, Facultad de Física, Universidad de Sevilla, Avda. Reina Mercedes s/n, 41012 Sevilla, Spain
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13
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Gillams RJ, Calero V, Fernandez-Mateo R, Morgan H. Electrokinetic deterministic lateral displacement for fractionation of vesicles and nano-particles. LAB ON A CHIP 2022; 22:3869-3876. [PMID: 36065949 DOI: 10.1039/d2lc00583b] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
We describe fractionation of sub-micron vesicles and particles suspended in high conductivity electrolytes using an electrokinetically biased Deterministic Lateral Displacement (DLD) device. An optimised, asymmetric array of micron-sized pillars and gaps, with an AC electric field applied orthogonal to the fluid flow gives an approximately ten-fold reduction in the intrinsic critical diameter (Dc) of the device. The asymmetry in the device maximises the throughput. Fractionation of populations of 100 nm and 400 nm extruded vesicles is achieved in 690 mS m-1 KCl, and 100 nm, 200 nm and 500 nm polystyrene particles in 105 mS m-1 KCl. The electrokinetically biased DLD may provide solutions for simple and rapid isolation of extracellular vesicles.
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Affiliation(s)
- Richard J Gillams
- School of Electronics and Computer Science, University of Southampton, UK.
- Institute for Life Sciences, University of Southampton, UK
| | - Victor Calero
- School of Electronics and Computer Science, University of Southampton, UK.
- International Iberian Nanotechnology Laboratory (INL), Braga, Portugal
| | | | - Hywel Morgan
- School of Electronics and Computer Science, University of Southampton, UK.
- Institute for Life Sciences, University of Southampton, UK
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14
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Al-Ali A, Waheed W, Abu-Nada E, Alazzam A. A review of active and passive hybrid systems based on Dielectrophoresis for the manipulation of microparticles. J Chromatogr A 2022; 1676:463268. [DOI: 10.1016/j.chroma.2022.463268] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/25/2022] [Revised: 06/16/2022] [Accepted: 06/20/2022] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
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15
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A microfluidic device for label-free separation sensitivity enhancement of circulating tumor cells of various and similar size. J Mol Liq 2022. [DOI: 10.1016/j.molliq.2021.118192] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
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16
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Deterministic Lateral Displacement Microfluidic Chip for Minicell Purification. MICROMACHINES 2022; 13:mi13030365. [PMID: 35334657 PMCID: PMC8951003 DOI: 10.3390/mi13030365] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/31/2022] [Revised: 02/19/2022] [Accepted: 02/23/2022] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Abstract
Deterministic lateral displacement (DLD) is a well-known microfluidic technique for particle separation with high potential for integration into bioreactors for therapeutic applications. Separation is based on the interaction of suspended particles in a liquid flowing through an array of microposts under low Reynolds conditions. This technique has been used previously to separate living cells of different sizes but similar shapes. Here, we present a DLD microchip to separate rod-shaped bacterial cells up to 10 µm from submicron spherical minicells. We designed two microchips with 50 and 25 µm cylindrical posts and spacing of 15 and 2.5 µm, respectively. Soft lithography was used to fabricate polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) chips, which were assessed at different flow rates for their separation potential. The results showed negligible shear effect on the separation efficiency for both designs. However, the higher flow rates resulted in faster separation. We optimized the geometrical parameters including the shape, size, angle and critical radii of the posts and the width and depth of the channel as well as the number of arrays to achieve separation efficiency as high as 75.5% on a single-stage separation. These results pave the way for high-throughput separation and purification modules with the potential of direct integration into bioreactors.
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17
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Fernández-Mateo R, Calero V, Morgan H, Ramos A, García-Sánchez P. Concentration-Polarization Electroosmosis near Insulating Constrictions within Microfluidic Channels. Anal Chem 2021; 93:14667-14674. [PMID: 34704741 PMCID: PMC8581963 DOI: 10.1021/acs.analchem.1c02849] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
![]()
Electric fields are
commonly used to trap and separate micro- and
nanoparticles near channel constrictions in microfluidic devices.
The trapping mechanism is attributed to the electrical forces arising
from the nonhomogeneous electric field caused by the constrictions,
and the phenomenon is known as insulator-based-dielectrophoresis (iDEP).
In this paper, we describe stationary electroosmotic flows of electrolytes
around insulating constrictions induced by low frequency AC electric
fields (below 10 kHz). Experimental characterization of the flows
is described for two different channel heights (50 and 10 μm),
together with numerical simulations based on an electrokinetic model
that considers the modification of the local ionic concentration due
to surface conductance on charged insulating walls. We term this phenomenon
concentration–polarization electroosmosis (CPEO). The observed
flow characteristics are in qualitative agreement with the predictions
of this model. However, for shallow channels (10 μm),
trapping of the particles on both sides of the constrictions is also
observed. This particle and fluid behavior could play a major role
in iDEP and could be easily misinterpreted as a dielectrophoretic
force.
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Affiliation(s)
- Raúl Fernández-Mateo
- School of Electronics and Computer Science, University of Southampton, Southampton SO17 1BJ, United Kingdom
| | - Víctor Calero
- Departamento de Electrónica y Electromagnetismo, Facultad de Física, Universidad de Sevilla, Avda. Reina Mercedes s/n, 41012 Sevilla, Spain
| | - Hywel Morgan
- School of Electronics and Computer Science, University of Southampton, Southampton SO17 1BJ, United Kingdom
| | - Antonio Ramos
- Departamento de Electrónica y Electromagnetismo, Facultad de Física, Universidad de Sevilla, Avda. Reina Mercedes s/n, 41012 Sevilla, Spain
| | - Pablo García-Sánchez
- Departamento de Electrónica y Electromagnetismo, Facultad de Física, Universidad de Sevilla, Avda. Reina Mercedes s/n, 41012 Sevilla, Spain
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18
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Rahmati M, Chen X. Separation of circulating tumor cells from blood using dielectrophoretic DLD manipulation. Biomed Microdevices 2021; 23:49. [PMID: 34581876 DOI: 10.1007/s10544-021-00587-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 09/17/2021] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
Circulating Tumor Cells (CTCs) play a prominent role in early cancer detection. Emerging label-free techniques can be promising to CTC detection due to advantages in preserving cell integrity and minimal sample consumption. Deterministic Lateral Displacement (DLD) is a size-based label-free technique employing laminar flow for continuous sorting of suspended cells. However, separation based solely on size is challenging as the size distributions of CTCs tend to overlap with blood cells. Moreover, the rarity of CTCs in blood requires high throughput processing of samples for clinical utility. In this work, a dielectrophoretic DLD technique is presented to segregate CTCs from blood. This technique utilizes the cell size and dielectric properties as well as particle movement caused by polarization effect to accomplish continuous separation at high flow rates. A numerical model is developed and validated to investigate the effects of various parameters related to the fluid flow, micro-post array, and electric field. It is demonstrated that the dielectrophoretic DLD with specific post arrangement can continuously separate A549 lung CTCs from WBCs by applying a field frequency close to the crossover frequency of CTCs. The analysis further indicates that such a device can perform well despite uncertainties of CTC crossover frequencies. Additionally, efficient separation with minimum clogging can be achieved by setting the electric field perpendicular to fluid flow. The presented platform offers distinct advantages and can be potentially combined with techniques such as antibody-based immune-binding methods for rapid detection of CTCs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mehdi Rahmati
- School of Engineering and Computer Science, Washington State University, Vancouver, WA, 98686, USA
| | - Xiaolin Chen
- School of Engineering and Computer Science, Washington State University, Vancouver, WA, 98686, USA.
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19
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Kwizera EA, Sun M, White AM, Li J, He X. Methods of Generating Dielectrophoretic Force for Microfluidic Manipulation of Bioparticles. ACS Biomater Sci Eng 2021; 7:2043-2063. [PMID: 33871975 PMCID: PMC8205986 DOI: 10.1021/acsbiomaterials.1c00083] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
Manipulation of microscale bioparticles including living cells is of great significance to the broad bioengineering and biotechnology fields. Dielectrophoresis (DEP), which is defined as the interactions between dielectric particles and the electric field, is one of the most widely used techniques for the manipulation of bioparticles including cell separation, sorting, and trapping. Bioparticles experience a DEP force if they have a different polarization from the surrounding media in an electric field that is nonuniform in terms of the intensity and/or phase of the electric field. A comprehensive literature survey shows that the DEP-based microfluidic devices for manipulating bioparticles can be categorized according to the methods of creating the nonuniformity via patterned microchannels, electrodes, and media to generate the DEP force. These methods together with the theory of DEP force generation are described in this review, to provide a summary of the methods and materials that have been used to manipulate various bioparticles for various specific biological outcomes. Further developments of DEP-based technologies include identifying materials that better integrate with electrodes than current popular materials (silicone/glass) and improving the performance of DEP manipulation of bioparticles by combining it with other methods of handling bioparticles. Collectively, DEP-based microfluidic manipulation of bioparticles holds great potential for various biomedical applications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elyahb A. Kwizera
- Fischell Department of Bioengineering, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA
| | - Mingrui Sun
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 43210, USA
| | - Alisa M. White
- Fischell Department of Bioengineering, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA
| | - Jianrong Li
- Department of Veterinary Biosciences, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA
| | - Xiaoming He
- Fischell Department of Bioengineering, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 43210, USA
- Robert E. Fischell Institute for Biomedical Devices, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA
- Marlene and Stewart Greenebaum Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of Maryland, Baltimore, MD 21201, USA
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20
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Wu Y, Chattaraj R, Ren Y, Jiang H, Lee D. Label-Free Multitarget Separation of Particles and Cells under Flow Using Acoustic, Electrophoretic, and Hydrodynamic Forces. Anal Chem 2021; 93:7635-7646. [PMID: 34014074 DOI: 10.1021/acs.analchem.1c00312] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Abstract
Multiplex separation of mixed biological samples is essential in a considerable portion of biomedical research and clinical applications. An automated and operator-independent process for the separation of samples is highly sought after. There is a significant unmet need for methods that can perform fractionation of small volumes of multicomponent mixtures. Herein, we design an integrated chip that combines acoustic and electric fields to enable efficient and label-free separation of multiple different cells and particles under flow. To facilitate the connection of multiple sorting mechanisms in tandem, we investigate the electroosmosis (EO)-induced deterministic lateral displacement (DLD) separation in a combined pressure- and DC field-driven flow and exploit the combination of the bipolar electrode (BPE) focusing and surface acoustic wave (SAW) sorting modules. We successfully integrate four sequential microfluidic modules for multitarget separation within a single platform: (i) sorting particles and cells relying on the size and surface charge by adjusting the flow rate and electric field using a DLD array; (ii) alignment of cells or particles within a microfluidic channel by a bipolar electrode; (iii) separation of particles based on compressibility and density by the acoustic force; and (iv) separation of viable and nonviable cells using dielectric properties via the dielectrophoresis (DEP) force. As a proof of principle, we demonstrate the sorting of multiple cell and particle types (polystyrene (PS) particles, oil droplets, and viable and nonviable yeast cells) with high efficiency. This integrated microfluidic platform combines multiple functional components and, with its ability to noninvasively sort multiple targeted cells in a label-free manner relying on different properties, is compatible with high-definition imaging, showing great potential in diverse diagnostic and analysis applications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yupan Wu
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104, United States.,School of Mechatronics Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, Heilongjiang 150001, P. R. China.,School of Microelectronics, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi'an 710072, P. R. China.,Research & Development Institute of Northwestern Polytechnical University in Shenzhen, Shenzhen 518000, P. R. China.,Yangtze River Delta Research Institute of NPU, Taicang 215400, P. R. China
| | - Rajarshi Chattaraj
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104, United States
| | - Yukun Ren
- School of Mechatronics Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, Heilongjiang 150001, P. R. China
| | - Hongyuan Jiang
- School of Mechatronics Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, Heilongjiang 150001, P. R. China
| | - Daeyeon Lee
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104, United States
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21
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Xuan X. Review of nonlinear electrokinetic flows in insulator-based dielectrophoresis: From induced charge to Joule heating effects. Electrophoresis 2021; 43:167-189. [PMID: 33991344 DOI: 10.1002/elps.202100090] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/03/2021] [Revised: 05/08/2021] [Accepted: 05/11/2021] [Indexed: 01/03/2023]
Abstract
Insulator-based dielectrophoresis (iDEP) has been increasingly used for particle manipulation in various microfluidic applications. It exploits insulating structures to constrict and/or curve electric field lines to generate field gradients for particle dielectrophoresis. However, the presence of these insulators, especially those with sharp edges, causes two nonlinear electrokinetic flows, which, if sufficiently strong, may disturb the otherwise linear electrokinetic motion of particles and affect the iDEP performance. One is induced charge electroosmotic (ICEO) flow because of the polarization of the insulators, and the other is electrothermal flow because of the amplified Joule heating in the fluid around the insulators. Both flows vary nonlinearly with the applied electric field (either DC or AC) and exhibit in the form of fluid vortices, which have been utilized to promote some applications while being suppressed in others. The effectiveness of iDEP benefits from a comprehensive understanding of the nonlinear electrokinetic flows, which is complicated by the involvement of the entire iDEP device into electric polarization and thermal diffusion. This article is aimed to review the works on both the fundamentals and applications of ICEO and electrothermal flows in iDEP microdevices. A personal perspective of some future research directions in the field is also given.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiangchun Xuan
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, Clemson University, Clemson, South Carolina, USA
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22
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García-Sánchez P, Ramos A. Continuous Particle Separation in Microfluidics: Deterministic Lateral Displacement Assisted by Electric Fields. MICROMACHINES 2021; 12:66. [PMID: 33435288 PMCID: PMC7827387 DOI: 10.3390/mi12010066] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/05/2021] [Accepted: 01/07/2021] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
Advances in the miniaturization of microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) [...]
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Antonio Ramos
- Departamento de Electrónica y Electromagnetismo, Facultad de Física, Universidad de Sevilla, Avenida Reina Mercedes s/n, 41012 Sevilla, Spain;
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23
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Cell Sorting Using Electrokinetic Deterministic Lateral Displacement. MICROMACHINES 2020; 12:mi12010030. [PMID: 33396630 PMCID: PMC7823954 DOI: 10.3390/mi12010030] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/10/2020] [Revised: 12/22/2020] [Accepted: 12/24/2020] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
We show that by combining deterministic lateral displacement (DLD) with electrokinetics, it is possible to sort cells based on differences in their membrane and/or internal structures. Using heat to deactivate cells, which change their viability and structure, we then demonstrate sorting of a mixture of viable and non-viable cells for two different cell types. For Escherichia coli, the size change due to deactivation is insufficient to allow size-based DLD separation. Our method instead leverages the considerable change in zeta potential to achieve separation at low frequency. Conversely, for Saccharomyces cerevisiae (Baker’s yeast) the heat treatment does not result in any significant change of zeta potential. Instead, we perform the sorting at higher frequency and utilize what we believe is a change in dielectrophoretic mobility for the separation. We expect our work to form a basis for the development of simple, low-cost, continuous label-free methods that can separate cells and bioparticles based on their intrinsic properties.
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24
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Ho BD, Beech JP, Tegenfeldt JO. Charge-Based Separation of Micro- and Nanoparticles. MICROMACHINES 2020; 11:E1014. [PMID: 33218201 PMCID: PMC7702211 DOI: 10.3390/mi11111014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/16/2020] [Revised: 11/11/2020] [Accepted: 11/14/2020] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
Deterministic Lateral Displacement (DLD) is a label-free particle sorting method that separates by size continuously and with high resolution. By combining DLD with electric fields (eDLD), we show separation of a variety of nano and micro-sized particles primarily by their zeta potential. Zeta potential is an indicator of electrokinetic charge-the charge corresponding to the electric field at the shear plane-an important property of micro- and nanoparticles in colloidal or separation science. We also demonstrate proof of principle of separation of nanoscale liposomes of different lipid compositions, with strong relevance for biomedicine. We perform careful characterization of relevant experimental conditions necessary to obtain adequate sorting of different particle types. By choosing a combination of frequency and amplitude, sorting can be made sensitive to the particle subgroup of interest. The enhanced displacement effect due to electrokinetics is found to be significant at low frequency and for particles with high zeta potential. The effect appears to scale with the square of the voltage, suggesting that it is associated with either non-linear electrokinetics or dielectrophoresis (DEP). However, since we observe large changes in separation behavior over the frequency range at which DEP forces are expected to remain constant, DEP can be ruled out.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Jonas O. Tegenfeldt
- Division of Solid State Physics and NanoLund, Physics Department, Lund University, P.O. Box 118, 22100 Lund, Sweden; (B.D.H.); (J.P.B.)
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25
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Hochstetter A, Vernekar R, Austin RH, Becker H, Beech JP, Fedosov DA, Gompper G, Kim SC, Smith JT, Stolovitzky G, Tegenfeldt JO, Wunsch BH, Zeming KK, Krüger T, Inglis DW. Deterministic Lateral Displacement: Challenges and Perspectives. ACS NANO 2020; 14:10784-10795. [PMID: 32844655 DOI: 10.1021/acsnano.0c05186] [Citation(s) in RCA: 70] [Impact Index Per Article: 17.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/11/2023]
Abstract
The advent of microfluidics in the 1990s promised a revolution in multiple industries from healthcare to chemical processing. Deterministic lateral displacement (DLD) is a continuous-flow microfluidic particle separation method discovered in 2004 that has been applied successfully and widely to the separation of blood cells, yeast, spores, bacteria, viruses, DNA, droplets, and more. Deterministic lateral displacement is conceptually simple and can deliver consistent performance over a wide range of flow rates and particle concentrations. Despite wide use and in-depth study, DLD has not yet been fully elucidated or optimized, with different approaches to the same problem yielding varying results. We endeavor here to provide up-to-date expert opinion on the state-of-art and current fundamental, practical, and commercial challenges with DLD as well as describe experimental and modeling opportunities. Because these challenges and opportunities arise from constraints on hydrodynamics, fabrication, and operation at the micro- and nanoscale, we expect this Perspective to serve as a guide for the broader micro- and nanofluidic community to identify and to address open questions in the field.
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Affiliation(s)
- Axel Hochstetter
- Department of Physics, University of Kaiserslautern, 67663 Kaiserslautern, Germany
| | - Rohan Vernekar
- School of Engineering, Institute for Multiscale Thermofluids, University of Edinburgh, EH9 3DW Edinburgh, United Kingdom
| | - Robert H Austin
- Department of Physics, Princeton University, Princeton 08544, New Jersey, United States
| | | | - Jason P Beech
- Department of Physics and NanoLund, Lund University, SE 22100 Lund, Sweden
| | - Dmitry A Fedosov
- Institute of Biological Information Processing and Institute for Advanced Simulation, Forschungszentrum Jülich, D-52425 Juelich, Germany
| | - Gerhard Gompper
- Institute of Biological Information Processing and Institute for Advanced Simulation, Forschungszentrum Jülich, D-52425 Juelich, Germany
| | - Sung-Cheol Kim
- IBM T.J. Watson Research Center, Yorktown Heights, New York 10598, United States
| | - Joshua T Smith
- IBM T.J. Watson Research Center, Yorktown Heights, New York 10598, United States
| | - Gustavo Stolovitzky
- IBM T.J. Watson Research Center, Yorktown Heights, New York 10598, United States
| | - Jonas O Tegenfeldt
- Department of Physics and NanoLund, Lund University, SE 22100 Lund, Sweden
| | - Benjamin H Wunsch
- IBM T.J. Watson Research Center, Yorktown Heights, New York 10598, United States
| | - Kerwin K Zeming
- Critical Analytics for Manufacturing of Personalized Medicine, Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology, 138602 Singapore
| | - Timm Krüger
- School of Engineering, Institute for Multiscale Thermofluids, University of Edinburgh, EH9 3DW Edinburgh, United Kingdom
| | - David W Inglis
- School of Engineering, Macquarie University, Macquarie Park, New South Wales 2109, Australia
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26
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Calero V, García-Sánchez P, Ramos A, Morgan H. Electrokinetic biased deterministic lateral displacement: scaling analysis and simulations. J Chromatogr A 2020; 1623:461151. [DOI: 10.1016/j.chroma.2020.461151] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/05/2020] [Revised: 04/12/2020] [Accepted: 04/20/2020] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
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27
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Lee S, Roh SM, Lee E, Park Y, Lee BC, Kwon Y, Kim HJ, Kim J. Applications of Converged Various Forces for Detection of Biomolecules and Novelty of Dielectrophoretic Force in the Applications. SENSORS (BASEL, SWITZERLAND) 2020; 20:E3242. [PMID: 32517305 PMCID: PMC7309140 DOI: 10.3390/s20113242] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/13/2020] [Revised: 06/03/2020] [Accepted: 06/05/2020] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
Since separation of target biomolecules is a crucial step for highly sensitive and selective detection of biomolecules, hence, various technologies have been applied to separate biomolecules, such as deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), protein, exosome, virus, etc. Among the various technologies, dielectrophoresis (DEP) has the significant advantage that the force can provide two different types of forces, attractive and repulsive DEP force, through simple adjustment in frequency or structure of microfluidic chips. Therefore, in this review, we focused on separation technologies based on DEP force and classified various separation technologies. First, the importance of biomolecules, general separation methods and various forces including DEP, electrophoresis (EP), electrothermal flow (ETF), electroosmosis (EO), magnetophoresis, acoustophoresis (ACP), hydrodynamic, etc., was described. Then, separating technologies applying only a single DEP force and dual force, moreover, applying other forces simultaneously with DEP force were categorized. In addition, advanced technologies applying more than two different kinds of forces, namely complex force, were introduced. Overall, we critically reviewed the state-of-the-art of converged various forces for detection of biomolecules with novelty of DEP.
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Affiliation(s)
- Seungjun Lee
- Department of Medical Biotechnology, Dongguk University, Seoul 04620, Korea; (S.L.); (S.M.R.); (E.L.); (Y.P.); (Y.K.)
| | - Seong Min Roh
- Department of Medical Biotechnology, Dongguk University, Seoul 04620, Korea; (S.L.); (S.M.R.); (E.L.); (Y.P.); (Y.K.)
| | - Eunji Lee
- Department of Medical Biotechnology, Dongguk University, Seoul 04620, Korea; (S.L.); (S.M.R.); (E.L.); (Y.P.); (Y.K.)
| | - Yejin Park
- Department of Medical Biotechnology, Dongguk University, Seoul 04620, Korea; (S.L.); (S.M.R.); (E.L.); (Y.P.); (Y.K.)
| | - Byung Chul Lee
- Center for BioMicrosystems, Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST), Seoul 02792, Korea;
| | - Youngeun Kwon
- Department of Medical Biotechnology, Dongguk University, Seoul 04620, Korea; (S.L.); (S.M.R.); (E.L.); (Y.P.); (Y.K.)
| | - Hye Jin Kim
- Department of Clinical Pharmacology, Kyung Hee University, Seoul 02447, Korea
| | - Jinsik Kim
- Department of Medical Biotechnology, Dongguk University, Seoul 04620, Korea; (S.L.); (S.M.R.); (E.L.); (Y.P.); (Y.K.)
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28
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Ahasan K, Landry CM, Chen X, Kim JH. Effect of angle-of-attacks on deterministic lateral displacement (DLD) with symmetric airfoil pillars. Biomed Microdevices 2020; 22:42. [PMID: 32495156 DOI: 10.1007/s10544-020-00496-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/30/2022]
Abstract
Deterministic lateral displacement (DLD) is a microfluidic technique for size fractionation of particles/cells in continuous flow with a great potential for biological and clinical applications. Growing interest of DLD devices in enabling high-throughput operation for practical applications, such as circulating tumor cell (CTC) separation, necessitates employing higher flow rates, leading to operation at moderate to high Reynolds number (Re) regimes. Recently, it has been shown that symmetric airfoil shaped pillars with neutral angle-of-attack (AoA) can be used for high-throughput design of DLD devices due to their mitigation of vortex effects and preservation of flow symmetry under high Re conditions. While high-Re operation with symmetric airfoil shaped pillars has been established, the effect of AoAs on the DLD performance has not been investigated. In this paper, we have characterized the airfoil DLD device with various AoAs. The transport behavior of microparticles has been observed and analyzed with various AoAs in realistic high-Re. Furthermore, we have modeled the flow fields and anisotropy in a representative airfoil pillar array, for both positive and negative AoA configurations. Unlike the conventional DLD device, lateral displacement has been suppressed with +5° and + 15° AoA configurations regardless of particle sizes. On the other hand, stronger lateral displacement has been seen with -5° and - 15° AoAs. This can be attributed to growing flow anisotropy as Re climbs, and significant expansion or compression of streamlines between airfoils with AoAs. The findings in this study can be utilized for the design and optimization of airfoil DLD microfluidic devices with various AoAs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kawkab Ahasan
- School of Engineering and Computer Science, Washington State University, Vancouver, WA, 98686, USA
| | - Christopher M Landry
- School of Engineering and Computer Science, Washington State University, Vancouver, WA, 98686, USA
| | - Xiaolin Chen
- School of Engineering and Computer Science, Washington State University, Vancouver, WA, 98686, USA
| | - Jong-Hoon Kim
- School of Engineering and Computer Science, Washington State University, Vancouver, WA, 98686, USA.
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29
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Deterministic Lateral Displacement-Based Separation of Magnetic Beads and Its Applications of Antibody Recognition. SENSORS 2020; 20:s20102846. [PMID: 32429490 PMCID: PMC7287841 DOI: 10.3390/s20102846] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/15/2020] [Revised: 05/07/2020] [Accepted: 05/13/2020] [Indexed: 12/02/2022]
Abstract
This work presents a magnetic-driven deterministic lateral displacement (m-DLD) microfluidic device. A permanent magnet located at the outlet of the microchannel was used to generate the driving force. Two stages of mirrored round micropillar array were designed for the separation of magnetic beads with three different sizes in turn. The effects of the forcing angle and the inlet width of the micropillar array on the separating efficiency were studied. The m-DLD device with optimal structure parameters shows that the separating efficiencies for the 10 μm, 20 μm and 40 μm magnetic beads are 87%, 89% and 94%, respectively. Furthermore, this m-DLD device was used for antibody recognition and separation among a mixture solution of antibodies. The trajectories of different kinds of magnetic beads coupled with different antigens showed that the m-DLD device could realize a simple and low-cost diagnostic test.
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Hochstetter A. Lab-on-a-Chip Technologies for the Single Cell Level: Separation, Analysis, and Diagnostics. MICROMACHINES 2020; 11:E468. [PMID: 32365567 PMCID: PMC7281269 DOI: 10.3390/mi11050468] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/08/2020] [Revised: 04/25/2020] [Accepted: 04/25/2020] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
In the last three decades, microfluidics and its applications have been on an exponential rise, including approaches to isolate rare cells and diagnose diseases on the single-cell level. The techniques mentioned herein have already had significant impacts in our lives, from in-the-field diagnosis of disease and parasitic infections, through home fertility tests, to uncovering the interactions between SARS-CoV-2 and their host cells. This review gives an overview of the field in general and the most notable developments of the last five years, in three parts: 1. What can we detect? 2. Which detection technologies are used in which setting? 3. How do these techniques work? Finally, this review discusses potentials, shortfalls, and an outlook on future developments, especially in respect to the funding landscape and the field-application of these chips.
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Affiliation(s)
- Axel Hochstetter
- Experimentalphysik, Universität des Saarlandes, D-66123 Saarbrücken, Germany
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31
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Zhang T, Hong ZY, Tang SY, Li W, Inglis DW, Hosokawa Y, Yalikun Y, Li M. Focusing of sub-micrometer particles in microfluidic devices. LAB ON A CHIP 2020; 20:35-53. [PMID: 31720655 DOI: 10.1039/c9lc00785g] [Citation(s) in RCA: 51] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
Sub-micrometer particles (0.10-1.0 μm) are of great significance to study, e.g., microvesicles and protein aggregates are targets for therapeutic intervention, and sub-micrometer fluorescent polystyrene (PS) particles are used as probes for diagnostic imaging. Focusing of sub-micrometer particles - precisely control over the position of sub-micrometer particles in a tightly focused stream - has a wide range of applications in the field of biology, chemistry and environment, by acting as a prerequisite step for downstream detection, manipulation and quantification. Microfluidic devices have been attracting great attention as desirable tools for sub-micrometer particle focusing, due to their small size, low reagent consumption, fast analysis and low cost. Recent advancements in fundamental knowledge and fabrication technologies have enabled microfluidic focusing of particles at sub-micrometer scale in a continuous, label-free and high-throughput manner. Microfluidic methods for the focusing of sub-micrometer particles can be classified into two main groups depending on whether an external field is applied: 1) passive methods, which utilize intrinsic fluidic properties without the need of external actuation, such as inertial, deterministic lateral displacement (DLD), viscoelastic and hydrophoretic focusing; and 2) active methods, where external fields are used, such as dielectrophoretic, thermophoretic, acoustophoretic and optical focusing. This article mainly reviews the studies on the focusing of sub-micrometer particles in microfluidic devices over the past 10 years. It aims to bridge the gap between the focusing of micrometer and nanometer scale (1.0-100 nm) particles and to improve the understanding of development progress, current advances and future prospects in microfluidic focusing techniques.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tianlong Zhang
- Division of Materials Science, Nara Institute of Science and Technology, Nara 630-0192, Japan. and School of Engineering, Macquarie University, Sydney 2122, Australia.
| | - Zhen-Yi Hong
- Division of Materials Science, Nara Institute of Science and Technology, Nara 630-0192, Japan.
| | - Shi-Yang Tang
- School of Mechanical, Materials, Mechatronic and Biomedical Engineering, University of Wollongong, Wollongong 2522, Australia
| | - Weihua Li
- School of Mechanical, Materials, Mechatronic and Biomedical Engineering, University of Wollongong, Wollongong 2522, Australia
| | - David W Inglis
- School of Engineering, Macquarie University, Sydney 2122, Australia.
| | - Yoichiroh Hosokawa
- Division of Materials Science, Nara Institute of Science and Technology, Nara 630-0192, Japan.
| | - Yaxiaer Yalikun
- Division of Materials Science, Nara Institute of Science and Technology, Nara 630-0192, Japan.
| | - Ming Li
- School of Engineering, Macquarie University, Sydney 2122, Australia.
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32
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Sequential Cell-Processing System by Integrating Hydrodynamic Purification and Dielectrophoretic Trapping for Analyses of Suspended Cancer Cells. MICROMACHINES 2019; 11:mi11010047. [PMID: 31905986 PMCID: PMC7019789 DOI: 10.3390/mi11010047] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/04/2019] [Revised: 12/25/2019] [Accepted: 12/26/2019] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
Microfluidic devices employing dielectrophoresis (DEP) have been widely studied and applied in the manipulation and analysis of single cells. However, several pre-processing steps, such as the preparation of purified target samples and buffer exchanges, are necessary to utilize DEP forces for suspended cell samples. In this paper, a sequential cell-processing device, which is composed of pre-processing modules that employ deterministic lateral displacement (DLD) and a single-cell trapping device employing an electroactive microwell array (EMA), is proposed to perform the medium exchange followed by arraying single cells sequentially using DEP. Two original microfluidic devices were efficiently integrated by using the interconnecting substrate containing rubber gaskets that tightly connect the inlet and outlet of each device. Prostate cancer cells (PC3) suspended in phosphate-buffered saline buffer mixed with microbeads were separated and then resuspended into the DEP buffer in the integrated system. Thereafter, purified PC3 cells were trapped in a microwell array by using the positive DEP force. The achieved separation and trapping efficiencies exceeded 94% and 93%, respectively, when using the integrated processing system. This study demonstrates an integrated microfluidic device by processing suspended cell samples, without the requirement of complex preparation steps.
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Månsson LK, de Wild T, Peng F, Holm SH, Tegenfeldt JO, Schurtenberger P. Preparation of colloidal molecules with temperature-tunable interactions from oppositely charged microgel spheres. SOFT MATTER 2019; 15:8512-8524. [PMID: 31633148 DOI: 10.1039/c9sm01779h] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
The self-assembly of small colloidal clusters, so-called colloidal molecules, into crystalline materials has proven extremely challenging, the outcome often being glassy, amorphous states where positions and orientations are locked. In this paper, a new type of colloidal molecule is therefore prepared, assembled from poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAM)-based microgels that due to their well documented softness and temperature-response allow for greater defect tolerance compared to hard spheres and for convenient in situ tuning of size, volume fraction and inter-particle interactions with temperature. The microgels (B) are assembled by electrostatic adsorption onto oppositely charged, smaller-sized microgels (A), where the relative size of the two determines the valency (n) of the resulting core-satellite ABn-type colloidal molecules. Following assembly, a microfluidic deterministic lateral displacement (DLD) device is used to effectively isolate AB4-type colloidal molecules of tetrahedral geometry that possess a repulsive-to-attractive transition on crossing the microgels' volume phase transition temperature (VPTT). These soft, temperature-responsive colloidal molecules constitute highly promising building blocks for the preparation of new materials with emergent properties, and their optical wavelength-size makes them especially interesting for optical applications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Linda K Månsson
- Division of Physical Chemistry, Lund University, POB 124, SE-22100 Lund, Sweden. and NanoLund, POB 118, SE-22100 Lund, Sweden
| | - Tym de Wild
- Division of Physical Chemistry, Lund University, POB 124, SE-22100 Lund, Sweden.
| | - Feifei Peng
- Division of Physical Chemistry, Lund University, POB 124, SE-22100 Lund, Sweden. and NanoLund, POB 118, SE-22100 Lund, Sweden
| | - Stefan H Holm
- NanoLund, POB 118, SE-22100 Lund, Sweden and Division of Solid State Physics, Lund University, POB 118, SE-22100 Lund, Sweden
| | - Jonas O Tegenfeldt
- NanoLund, POB 118, SE-22100 Lund, Sweden and Division of Solid State Physics, Lund University, POB 118, SE-22100 Lund, Sweden
| | - Peter Schurtenberger
- Division of Physical Chemistry, Lund University, POB 124, SE-22100 Lund, Sweden. and NanoLund, POB 118, SE-22100 Lund, Sweden and Lund Institute of Advanced Neutron and X-ray Science (LINXS), Scheelevägen 19, SE-22370 Lund, Sweden
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34
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Salafi T, Zhang Y, Zhang Y. A Review on Deterministic Lateral Displacement for Particle Separation and Detection. NANO-MICRO LETTERS 2019; 11:77. [PMID: 34138050 PMCID: PMC7770818 DOI: 10.1007/s40820-019-0308-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 84] [Impact Index Per Article: 16.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/01/2019] [Accepted: 08/25/2019] [Indexed: 05/03/2023]
Abstract
The separation and detection of particles in suspension are essential for a wide spectrum of applications including medical diagnostics. In this field, microfluidic deterministic lateral displacement (DLD) holds a promise due to the ability of continuous separation of particles by size, shape, deformability, and electrical properties with high resolution. DLD is a passive microfluidic separation technique that has been widely implemented for various bioparticle separations from blood cells to exosomes. DLD techniques have been previously reviewed in 2014. Since then, the field has matured as several physics of DLD have been updated, new phenomena have been discovered, and various designs have been presented to achieve a higher separation performance and throughput. Furthermore, some recent progress has shown new clinical applications and ability to use the DLD arrays as a platform for biomolecules detection. This review provides a thorough discussion on the recent progress in DLD with the topics based on the fundamental studies on DLD models and applications for particle separation and detection. Furthermore, current challenges and potential solutions of DLD are also discussed. We believe that a comprehensive understanding on DLD techniques could significantly contribute toward the advancements in the field for various applications. In particular, the rapid, low-cost, and high-throughput particle separation and detection with DLD have a tremendous impact for point-of-care diagnostics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Thoriq Salafi
- NUS Graduate School for Integrative Sciences and Engineering, National University of Singapore, Singapore, 119077, Singapore
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, National University of Singapore, Singapore, 117583, Singapore
| | - Yi Zhang
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, National University of Singapore, Singapore, 117583, Singapore
| | - Yong Zhang
- NUS Graduate School for Integrative Sciences and Engineering, National University of Singapore, Singapore, 119077, Singapore.
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, National University of Singapore, Singapore, 117583, Singapore.
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35
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Calero V, Garcia-Sanchez P, Ramos A, Morgan H. Combining DC and AC electric fields with deterministic lateral displacement for micro- and nano-particle separation. BIOMICROFLUIDICS 2019; 13:054110. [PMID: 31673301 PMCID: PMC6811356 DOI: 10.1063/1.5124475] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/14/2019] [Accepted: 10/09/2019] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
This paper describes the behavior of particles in a deterministic lateral displacement (DLD) separation device with DC and AC electric fields applied orthogonal to the fluid flow. As proof of principle, we demonstrate tunable microparticle and nanoparticle separation and fractionation depending on both particle size and zeta potential. DLD is a microfluidic technique that performs size-based binary separation of particles in a continuous flow. Here, we explore how the application of both DC and AC electric fields (separate or together) can be used to improve separation in a DLD device. We show that particles significantly smaller than the critical diameter of the device can be efficiently separated by applying orthogonal electric fields. Following the application of a DC voltage, Faradaic processes at the electrodes cause local changes in medium conductivity. This conductivity change creates an electric field gradient across the channel that results in a nonuniform electrophoretic velocity orthogonal to the primary flow direction. This phenomenon causes particles to focus on tight bands as they flow along the channel countering the effect of particle diffusion. It is shown that the final lateral displacement of particles depends on both particle size and zeta potential. Experiments with six different types of negatively charged particles and five different sizes (from 100 nm to 3 μm) and different zeta potential demonstrate how a DC electric field combined with AC electric fields (that causes negative-dielectrophoresis particle deviation) could be used for fractionation of particles on the nanoscale in microscale devices.
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Affiliation(s)
- Victor Calero
- School of Electronics and Computer Science, University of Southampton, Southampton SO17 1BJ, United Kingdom
| | - Pablo Garcia-Sanchez
- Departamento de Electrónica y Electromagnetismo, Facultad de Física, Universidad de Sevilla, Seville 41012, Spain
| | - Antonio Ramos
- Departamento de Electrónica y Electromagnetismo, Facultad de Física, Universidad de Sevilla, Seville 41012, Spain
| | - Hywel Morgan
- School of Electronics and Computer Science, University of Southampton, Southampton SO17 1BJ, United Kingdom
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36
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Calero V, Garcia-Sanchez P, Honrado C, Ramos A, Morgan H. AC electrokinetic biased deterministic lateral displacement for tunable particle separation. LAB ON A CHIP 2019; 19:1386-1396. [PMID: 30912779 DOI: 10.1039/c8lc01416g] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/19/2023]
Abstract
We describe a novel particle separation technique that combines deterministic lateral displacement (DLD) with orthogonal electrokinetic forces. DLD is a microfluidic technique for continuous flow particle separation based on size. We describe new tunable devices that use a combination of AC electric fields with DLD to separate particles below the critical diameter. Planar electrodes were integrated into a classical DLD device to produce a force orthogonal to the fluid flow direction. Experiments with 3.0 μm, 1.0 μm and 500 nm diameter microspheres show that at low frequencies (up to 500 Hz) particles oscillate in the direction of the field due to electrophoretic (EP)/electroosmotic (EO) forces. As the frequency of the field increases, the amplitude of these oscillations vanishes and, eventually dielectrophoresis (DEP) becomes the dominant electrokinetic force on the particles (DEP arises from electric field inhomogeneities caused by the presence of the DLD posts). Both mechanisms alter the paths of the particles inside the DLD devices leading to enhanced sorting of particles below the critical diameter of the device.
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Affiliation(s)
- Victor Calero
- School of Electronics and Computer Science, and Institute for Life Sciences, University of Southampton, UK.
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37
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Gallo-Villanueva RC, Perez-Gonzalez VH, Cardenas-Benitez B, Jind B, Martinez-Chapa SO, Lapizco-Encinas BH. Joule heating effects in optimized insulator-based dielectrophoretic devices: An interplay between post geometry and temperature rise. Electrophoresis 2019; 40:1408-1416. [PMID: 30883810 DOI: 10.1002/elps.201800490] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/21/2018] [Revised: 03/08/2019] [Accepted: 03/08/2019] [Indexed: 01/25/2023]
Abstract
Insulator-based dielectrophoresis (iDEP) is the electrokinetic migration of polarized particles when subjected to a non-uniform electric field generated by the inclusion of insulating structures between two remote electrodes. Electrode spacing is considerable in iDEP systems when compared to electrode-based DEP systems, therefore, iDEP systems require high voltages to achieve efficient particle manipulation. A consequence of this is the temperature increase within the channel due to Joule heating effects, which, in some cases, can be detrimental when manipulating biological samples. This work presents an experimental and modeling study on the increase in temperature inside iDEP devices. For this, we studied seven distinct channel designs that mainly differ from each other in their post array characteristics: post shape, post size and spacing between posts. Experimental results obtained using a custom-built copper Resistance Temperature Detector, based on resistance changes, show that the influence of the insulators produces a difference in temperature rise of approximately 4°C between the designs studied. Furthermore, a 3D COMSOL model is also introduced to evaluate heat generation and dissipation, which is in good agreement with the experiments. The model allowed relating the difference in average temperature for the geometries under study to the electric resistance posed by the post array in each design.
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Affiliation(s)
- Roberto C Gallo-Villanueva
- School of Engineering and Sciences, Nano- Sensors and Devices Research Group, Tecnologico de Monterrey, Monterrey, NL, Mexico
| | - Victor H Perez-Gonzalez
- School of Engineering and Sciences, Nano- Sensors and Devices Research Group, Tecnologico de Monterrey, Monterrey, NL, Mexico
| | - Braulio Cardenas-Benitez
- School of Engineering and Sciences, Nano- Sensors and Devices Research Group, Tecnologico de Monterrey, Monterrey, NL, Mexico
| | - Binny Jind
- School of Engineering and Sciences, Nano- Sensors and Devices Research Group, Tecnologico de Monterrey, Monterrey, NL, Mexico
| | - Sergio O Martinez-Chapa
- School of Engineering and Sciences, Nano- Sensors and Devices Research Group, Tecnologico de Monterrey, Monterrey, NL, Mexico
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38
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Aghaamoo M, Aghilinejad A, Chen X, Xu J. On the design of deterministic dielectrophoresis for continuous separation of circulating tumor cells from peripheral blood cells. Electrophoresis 2019; 40:1486-1493. [DOI: 10.1002/elps.201800459] [Citation(s) in RCA: 45] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/30/2018] [Revised: 01/23/2019] [Accepted: 01/24/2019] [Indexed: 12/28/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Mohammad Aghaamoo
- Department of Biomedical EngineeringUniversity of California Irvine CA USA
| | - Arian Aghilinejad
- School of Engineering and Computer ScienceWashington State University Vancouver WA USA
| | - Xiaolin Chen
- School of Engineering and Computer ScienceWashington State University Vancouver WA USA
| | - Jie Xu
- Department of Mechanical and Industrial EngineeringUniversity of Illinois at Chicago Chicago IL USA
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39
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Xavier M, Holm SH, Beech JP, Spencer D, Tegenfeldt JO, Oreffo ROC, Morgan H. Label-free enrichment of primary human skeletal progenitor cells using deterministic lateral displacement. LAB ON A CHIP 2019; 19:513-523. [PMID: 30632599 DOI: 10.1039/c8lc01154k] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/19/2023]
Abstract
Skeletal stem cells (SSCs) are present in bone marrow (BM) and offer great potential for bone regenerative therapies. However, in the absence of a unique marker, current sorting approaches remain challenging in the quest for simple strategies to deliver SSCs with consistent regeneration and differentiation capacities. Microfluidics offers the possibility to sort cells marker-free, based on intrinsic biophysical properties. Recent studies indicate that SSCs are stiffer than leukocytes and are contained within the larger cell fraction in BM. This paper describes the use of deterministic lateral displacement (DLD) to sort SSCs based on cell size and stiffness. DLD is a technology that uses arrays of micropillars to sort cells based on their diameter. Cell deformation within the device can change the cell size and affect sorting - here evidenced using human cell lines and by fractionation of expanded SSCs. Following sorting, SSCs remained viable and retained their capacity to form clonogenic cultures (CFU-F), indicative of stem cell potential. Additionally, larger BM cells showed enhanced capacity to form CFU-F. These findings support the theory that SSCs are more abundant within the larger BM cell fraction and that DLD, or other size-based approaches, could be used to provide enriched SSC populations with significant implications for stem cell research and translation to the clinic.
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Affiliation(s)
- Miguel Xavier
- Faculty of Physical Sciences and Engineering, and Institute for Life Sciences, University of Southampton, SO17 1BJ, UK.
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40
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Dalili A, Samiei E, Hoorfar M. A review of sorting, separation and isolation of cells and microbeads for biomedical applications: microfluidic approaches. Analyst 2019; 144:87-113. [DOI: 10.1039/c8an01061g] [Citation(s) in RCA: 145] [Impact Index Per Article: 29.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/22/2022]
Abstract
We have reviewed the microfluidic approaches for cell/particle isolation and sorting, and extensively explained the mechanism behind each method.
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Affiliation(s)
- Arash Dalili
- The University of British
- School of Engineering
- Kelowna
- Canada V1 V 1 V7
| | - Ehsan Samiei
- University of Victoria
- Department of Mechanical Engineering
- Victoria
- Canada
| | - Mina Hoorfar
- The University of British
- School of Engineering
- Kelowna
- Canada V1 V 1 V7
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41
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Yao J, Chen J, Cao X, Dong H. Combining 3D sidewall electrodes and contraction/expansion microstructures in microchip promotes isolation of cancer cells from red blood cells. Talanta 2018; 196:546-555. [PMID: 30683404 DOI: 10.1016/j.talanta.2018.12.059] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/11/2018] [Revised: 12/05/2018] [Accepted: 12/21/2018] [Indexed: 01/08/2023]
Abstract
Cell sorting from heterogeneous organisms and tissues composed of multi-type cells is of great importance in biological and clinical applications. As promising cell sorting methods, dielectrophoresis (DEP) and hydrodynamics are attracting much attention in recent years. In this paper, we report a novel strategy by coupling DEP unit (3D sidewall electrodes) and hydrodynamic unit (microchannels with contraction/expansion structures) together in one microfluidic chip. Depending on the relative positions of 3D sidewall electrodes and contraction/expansion structure, three microchips (full-coupling, semi-coupling and non-coupling) are developed and their cell sorting performance are compared by isolating lung cancer cells (PC-9 cells) from red blood cells (RBCs). Both finite element simulation and practical cell sorting prove that high cell sorting efficiency (recovery of PC-9 cells: 90.21%, recovery of RBCs: 94.35%) can be achieved in full-coupling microchip, mainly owing to the synergistic effects between DEP sorting and hydrodynamic sorting. i.e., the positive DEP force generated by 3D sidewall electrodes can simultaneously act as an additional shear gradient lift force and thus trigger secondary flow even at low flow velocity. Live/dead cell staining, hemolysis ratio, fluorescence images and CCK-8 assay prove that RBCs and PC-9 cells show no significance difference in cell viability before and after cell sorting. The proposed coupling platform for cell sorting brings on a new pathway to construct integrated microfluidic chips for effective cell sorting and separation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jie Yao
- National Engineering Research Center for Tissue Restoration and Reconstruction (NERC-TRR), Guangzhou 510006, China; School of Material Science and Engineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510006, China
| | - Jingxuan Chen
- National Engineering Research Center for Tissue Restoration and Reconstruction (NERC-TRR), Guangzhou 510006, China; School of Material Science and Engineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510006, China
| | - Xiaodong Cao
- National Engineering Research Center for Tissue Restoration and Reconstruction (NERC-TRR), Guangzhou 510006, China; School of Material Science and Engineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510006, China; School of Biomedical Science and Engineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510006, China
| | - Hua Dong
- National Engineering Research Center for Tissue Restoration and Reconstruction (NERC-TRR), Guangzhou 510006, China; School of Material Science and Engineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510006, China; School of Biomedical Science and Engineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510006, China.
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42
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Affiliation(s)
- Daihyun Kim
- School of Molecular Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona 85287, United States
- Center for Applied Structural Discovery, The Biodesign Institute, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona 85287, United States
| | - Mukul Sonker
- School of Molecular Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona 85287, United States
- Center for Applied Structural Discovery, The Biodesign Institute, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona 85287, United States
| | - Alexandra Ros
- School of Molecular Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona 85287, United States
- Center for Applied Structural Discovery, The Biodesign Institute, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona 85287, United States
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43
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Luo T, Fan L, Zeng Y, Liu Y, Chen S, Tan Q, Lam RHW, Sun D. A simplified sheathless cell separation approach using combined gravitational-sedimentation-based prefocusing and dielectrophoretic separation. LAB ON A CHIP 2018; 18:1521-1532. [PMID: 29725680 DOI: 10.1039/c8lc00173a] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/28/2023]
Abstract
Prefocusing of the cell mixture is necessary for achieving a high-efficiency and continuous dielectrophoretic (DEP) cell separation. However, prefocusing through sheath flow requires a complex and tedious peripheral system for multi-channel fluid control, hindering the integration of DEP separation systems with other microfluidic functionalities for comprehensive clinical and biological tasks. This paper presented a simplified sheathless cell separation approach that combines gravitational-sedimentation-based sheathless prefocusing and DEP separation methods. Through gravitational sedimentation in a tubing, which was inserted into the inlet of a microfluidic chip with an adjustable steering angle, the cells were focused into a stream at the upstream region of a microchannel prior to separation. Then, a DEP force was applied at the downstream region of the microchannel for the active separation of the cells. Through this combined strategy, the peripheral system for the sheath flow was no longer required, and thus the integration of cell separation system with additional microfluidic functionalities was facilitated. The proposed sheathless scheme focused the mixture of cells with different sizes and dielectric properties into a stream in a wide range of flow rates without changing the design of the microfluidic chip. The DEP method is a label-free approach that can continuously separate cells on the basis of the sizes or dielectric properties of the cells and thus capable of greatly flexible cell separation. The efficiency of the proposed approach was experimentally assessed according to its performance in the separation of human acute monocytic leukemia THP-1 cells from yeast cells with respect to different sizes and THP-1 cells from human acute myelomonocytic leukemia OCI-AML3 cells with respect to different dielectric properties. The experimental results revealed that the separation efficiency of the method can surpass 90% and thus effective in separating cells on the basis of either size or dielectric property.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tao Luo
- Department of Mechanical and Biomedical Engineering, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.
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44
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Li Y, Zhang H, Li Y, Li X, Wu J, Qian S, Li F. Dynamic control of particle separation in deterministic lateral displacement separator with viscoelastic fluids. Sci Rep 2018; 8:3618. [PMID: 29483594 PMCID: PMC5827740 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-018-21827-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/29/2017] [Accepted: 02/12/2018] [Indexed: 01/01/2023] Open
Abstract
We proposed an innovative method to achieve dynamic control of particle separation by employing viscoelastic fluids in deterministic lateral displacement (DLD) arrays. The effects of shear-thinning and elasticity of working fluids on the critical separation size in DLD arrays are investigated. It is observed that each effect can lead to the variation of the critical separation size by approximately 40%. Since the elasticity strength of the fluid is related to the shear rate, the dynamic control can for the first time be easily realized through tuning the flow rate in microchannels.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yuke Li
- School of Energy Science and Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, 150001, China
| | - Hongna Zhang
- School of Energy Science and Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, 150001, China. .,Sino-French Institute of Nuclear Engineering and Technology, Sun Yat-sen University, Zhuhai, 519000, China.
| | - Yongyao Li
- School of Energy Science and Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, 150001, China
| | - Xiaobin Li
- Sino-French Institute of Nuclear Engineering and Technology, Sun Yat-sen University, Zhuhai, 519000, China
| | - Jian Wu
- School of Energy Science and Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, 150001, China
| | - Shizhi Qian
- Institute of Micro/Nanotechnology, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, Virginia, 23529, USA
| | - Fengchen Li
- Sino-French Institute of Nuclear Engineering and Technology, Sun Yat-sen University, Zhuhai, 519000, China.
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45
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Separation of pathogenic bacteria by chain length. Anal Chim Acta 2018; 1000:223-231. [DOI: 10.1016/j.aca.2017.11.050] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/21/2017] [Accepted: 11/22/2017] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
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Tran TSH, Ho BD, Beech JP, Tegenfeldt JO. Open channel deterministic lateral displacement for particle and cell sorting. LAB ON A CHIP 2017; 17:3592-3600. [PMID: 28948275 DOI: 10.1039/c7lc00707h] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/19/2023]
Abstract
We present the use of capillary driven flow over patterned surfaces to achieve cheap and simple, but powerful separation of biologically relevant particle systems. The wide use of microfluidics is often hampered by the propensity for devices to clog due to the small channel sizes and the inability to access the interior of devices for cleaning. Often the devices can only be used for a limited duration and most frequently only once. In addition the cost and power requirements of flow control equipment limits the wider spread of the devices. We address these issues by presenting a simple particle- and cell-sorting scheme based on controlled fluid flow on a patterned surface. The open architecture makes it highly robust and easy to use. If clogging occurs it is straightforward to rinse the device and reuse it. Instead of external mechanical pumps, paper is used as a capillary pump. The different fractions are deposited in the paper and can subsequently be handled independently by simply cutting the paper for downstream processing and analyses. The sorting, based on deterministic lateral displacement, performs equivalently well in comparison with standard covered devices. We demonstrate successful separation of cancer cells and parasites from blood with good viability and with relevance for diagnostics and sample preparation. Sorting a mixture of soil and blood, we show the potential for forensic applications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Trung S H Tran
- NanoLund and Division of Solid State Physics, Physics Department, Lund University, PO Box 118, 221 00, Lund, Sweden.
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Yan S, Zhang J, Yuan D, Li W. Hybrid microfluidics combined with active and passive approaches for continuous cell separation. Electrophoresis 2016; 38:238-249. [DOI: 10.1002/elps.201600386] [Citation(s) in RCA: 95] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/24/2016] [Revised: 09/29/2016] [Accepted: 09/29/2016] [Indexed: 01/18/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Sheng Yan
- School of Mechanical, Materials and Mechatronic Engineering; University of Wollongong; Wollongong Australia
| | - Jun Zhang
- School of Mechanical, Materials and Mechatronic Engineering; University of Wollongong; Wollongong Australia
- School of Mechanical Engineering; Nanjing University of Science and Technology; Nanjing P. R. China
| | - Dan Yuan
- School of Mechanical, Materials and Mechatronic Engineering; University of Wollongong; Wollongong Australia
| | - Weihua Li
- School of Mechanical, Materials and Mechatronic Engineering; University of Wollongong; Wollongong Australia
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48
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Xavier M, Oreffo ROC, Morgan H. Skeletal stem cell isolation: A review on the state-of-the-art microfluidic label-free sorting techniques. Biotechnol Adv 2016; 34:908-923. [PMID: 27236022 DOI: 10.1016/j.biotechadv.2016.05.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/03/2016] [Revised: 05/13/2016] [Accepted: 05/22/2016] [Indexed: 01/03/2023]
Abstract
Skeletal stem cells (SSC) are a sub-population of bone marrow stromal cells that reside in postnatal bone marrow with osteogenic, chondrogenic and adipogenic differentiation potential. SSCs reside only in the bone marrow and have organisational and regulatory functions in the bone marrow microenvironment and give rise to the haematopoiesis-supportive stroma. Their differentiation capacity is restricted to skeletal lineages and therefore the term SSC should be clearly distinguished from mesenchymal stem cells which are reported to exist in extra-skeletal tissues and, critically, do not contribute to skeletal development. SSCs are responsible for the unique regeneration capacity of bone and offer unlimited potential for application in bone regenerative therapies. A current unmet challenge is the isolation of homogeneous populations of SSCs, in vitro, with homogeneous regeneration and differentiation capacities. Challenges that limit SSC isolation include a) the scarcity of SSCs in bone marrow aspirates, estimated at between 1 in 10-100,000 mononuclear cells; b) the absence of specific markers and thus the phenotypic ambiguity of the SSC and c) the complexity of bone marrow tissue. Microfluidics provides innovative approaches for cell separation based on bio-physical features of single cells. Here we review the physical principles underlying label-free microfluidic sorting techniques and review their capacity for stem cell selection/sorting from complex (heterogeneous) samples.
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Affiliation(s)
- Miguel Xavier
- Faculty of Physical Sciences and Engineering, Institute for Life Sciences, University of Southampton, SO17 1BJ, United Kingdom.; Centre for Human Development, Stem Cells and Regeneration, Institute of Developmental Sciences, Southampton General Hospital, Tremona Road, SO16 6YD Southampton, United Kingdom..
| | - Richard O C Oreffo
- Centre for Human Development, Stem Cells and Regeneration, Institute of Developmental Sciences, Southampton General Hospital, Tremona Road, SO16 6YD Southampton, United Kingdom..
| | - Hywel Morgan
- Faculty of Physical Sciences and Engineering, Institute for Life Sciences, University of Southampton, SO17 1BJ, United Kingdom..
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Zeming KK, Salafi T, Chen CH, Zhang Y. Asymmetrical Deterministic Lateral Displacement Gaps for Dual Functions of Enhanced Separation and Throughput of Red Blood Cells. Sci Rep 2016; 6:22934. [PMID: 26961061 PMCID: PMC4785430 DOI: 10.1038/srep22934] [Citation(s) in RCA: 63] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/05/2015] [Accepted: 02/25/2016] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Deterministic lateral displacement (DLD) method for particle separation in microfluidic devices has been extensively used for particle separation in recent years due to its high resolution and robust separation. DLD has shown versatility for a wide spectrum of applications for sorting of micro particles such as parasites, blood cells to bacteria and DNA. DLD model is designed for spherical particles and efficient separation of blood cells is challenging due to non-uniform shape and size. Moreover, separation in sub-micron regime requires the gap size of DLD systems to be reduced which exponentially increases the device resistance, resulting in greatly reduced throughput. This paper shows how simple application of asymmetrical DLD gap-size by changing the ratio of lateral-gap (GL) to downstream-gap (GD) enables efficient separation of RBCs without greatly restricting throughput. This method reduces the need for challenging fabrication of DLD pillars and provides new insight to the current DLD model. The separation shows an increase in DLD critical diameter resolution (separate smaller particles) and increase selectivity for non-spherical RBCs. The RBCs separate better as compared to standard DLD model with symmetrical gap sizes. This method can be applied to separate non-spherical bacteria or sub-micron particles to enhance throughput and DLD resolution.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kerwin Kwek Zeming
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, National University of Singapore, 4 Engineering Drive 3, Block E4 #04-08, 117583, Singapore.,Cellular and Molecular Bioengineering Lab, National University of Singapore, Block E3A, #07-06, 7 Engineering Drive 1, 117574, Singapore.,Singapore Institute for Neurotechnology (SINAPSE), 28 Medical Dr. #05-COR, 117456, Singapore
| | - Thoriq Salafi
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, National University of Singapore, 4 Engineering Drive 3, Block E4 #04-08, 117583, Singapore.,Cellular and Molecular Bioengineering Lab, National University of Singapore, Block E3A, #07-06, 7 Engineering Drive 1, 117574, Singapore.,NUS Graduate School for Integrative Sciences and Engineering, Centre for Life Sciences (CeLS), National University of Singapore, 05-01 28 Medical Drive, Singapore 117456, Singapore
| | - Chia-Hung Chen
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, National University of Singapore, 4 Engineering Drive 3, Block E4 #04-08, 117583, Singapore.,Singapore Institute for Neurotechnology (SINAPSE), 28 Medical Dr. #05-COR, 117456, Singapore
| | - Yong Zhang
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, National University of Singapore, 4 Engineering Drive 3, Block E4 #04-08, 117583, Singapore.,Cellular and Molecular Bioengineering Lab, National University of Singapore, Block E3A, #07-06, 7 Engineering Drive 1, 117574, Singapore.,NUS Graduate School for Integrative Sciences and Engineering, Centre for Life Sciences (CeLS), National University of Singapore, 05-01 28 Medical Drive, Singapore 117456, Singapore
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Zeming KK, Thakor NV, Zhang Y, Chen CH. Real-time modulated nanoparticle separation with an ultra-large dynamic range. LAB ON A CHIP 2016; 16:75-85. [PMID: 26575003 DOI: 10.1039/c5lc01051a] [Citation(s) in RCA: 59] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/19/2023]
Abstract
Nanoparticles exhibit size-dependent properties which make size-selective purification of proteins, DNA or synthetic nanoparticles essential for bio-analytics, clinical medicine, nano-plasmonics and nano-material sciences. Current purification methods of centrifugation, column chromatography and continuous-flow techniques suffer from particle aggregation, multi-stage process, complex setups and necessary nanofabrication. These increase process costs and time, reduce efficiency and limit dynamic range. Here, we achieve an unprecedented real-time nanoparticle separation (51-1500 nm) using a large-pore (2 μm) deterministic lateral displacement (DLD) device. No external force fields or nanofabrication are required. Instead, we investigated innate long-range electrostatic influences on nanoparticles within a fluid medium at different NaCl ionic concentrations. In this study we account for the electrostatic forces beyond Debye length and showed that they cannot be assumed as negligible especially for precise nanoparticle separation methods such as DLD. Our findings have enabled us to develop a model to simultaneously quantify and modulate the electrostatic force interactions between nanoparticle and micropore. By simply controlling buffer solutions, we achieve dynamic nanoparticle size separation on a single device with a rapid response time (<20 s) and an enlarged dynamic range (>1200%), outperforming standard benchtop centrifuge systems. This novel method and model combines device simplicity, isolation precision and dynamic flexibility, opening opportunities for high-throughput applications in nano-separation for industrial and biological applications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kerwin Kwek Zeming
- Singapore Institute for Neurotechnology (SINAPSE), 28 Medical Dr. #05-COR, 117456 Singapore
| | - Nitish V Thakor
- Singapore Institute for Neurotechnology (SINAPSE), 28 Medical Dr. #05-COR, 117456 Singapore and Department of Biomedical Engineering, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Traylor 701/720 Rutland Ave, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
| | - Yong Zhang
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, National University of Singapore, 9 Engineering Drive 1, Block EA #03-12, 117576 Singapore. and Cellular and Molecular Bioengineering Lab, National University of Singapore, Block E3A, #07-06, 7 Engineering Drive 1, 117574 Singapore
| | - Chia-Hung Chen
- Singapore Institute for Neurotechnology (SINAPSE), 28 Medical Dr. #05-COR, 117456 Singapore and Department of Biomedical Engineering, National University of Singapore, 9 Engineering Drive 1, Block EA #03-12, 117576 Singapore.
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