Microfluidics & Consumables
Normal and diseased cells differ in gene expression, protein secretion, and other crucial information. Efficient isolation and sorting of cells are critical preparatory steps for disease diagnosis and other biological research. Based on their inherent differences in cellular morphology, cells can be sorted by specific microfabricated structures, traps, or filters. Microfluidic devices effectively isolate target cells from a large population of cells, either by physical traps or biological recognition.
Microfluidic technologies enable marker-free cell separation in a number of ways. The design of microstructures and dimensions determine the separation efficiency in cell isolation. Microfluidic centrifugation isolates cells by size difference. Acoustic wave-based cell isolation and isolation by dielectrophoresis are yet two other technologies applied in microfluidic structures. Microfluidic devices can further be combined with droplet generators that encapsulate captured cells or with molecular assays of captured cells for clinical cancer diagnosis.