Themed collection Microfluidics for hematology

Advances in microfluidic technologies for measuring red blood cell deformability have surpassed traditional methods in terms of sensitivity, throughput, and ease of use. This review describes, compares, and covers applications of these technologies.

Microfluidic techniques for the studying hemostatic processes have enabled research into disease, drug action, and biophysical phenomena. Refinement of these techniques from “chip in a lab” to “point-of-care” will enable improved clinical testing.

This review describes recent advances in isolation and detection technology for circulating biomarkers. The clinical studies based on liquid biopsy results are summarized to provide a perspective on the role of such results in prostate cancer management.

In this critical review, emerging non-invasive and minimally invasive point-of-care anemia detection technologies are discussed, highlighting future directions and the need for multiplexed approaches and integrated disease etiology identification.

We design a thrombus-embedded microchannel and verify that our fibrin-targeted microbubbles bind firmly to the thrombus under blood flow shear rates.

A microfluidic ratchet sorting device is used to separate RBCs based on deformability. Sorted cells are imaged using optical microscopy and are used to train and test a deep learning network to classify the cells based on deformability.

An ultrathin (200 nm) silicon nitride filtering membrane with slit-shaped pores for high-performance capture of CTCs.

A cartridge-based, disposable magnetophoretic cytometer testing 3-part leukocyte differentials for point-of-care or self-testing applications.

We present a method that combines microfluidic systems and object-tracking computational technologies to evaluate the contributions of effective viscosity and wall friction to the overall resistance in blood from patients with sickle cell disease.

Secretion encoding workflow in which cells are co-encapsulated with anti-cytokine capture and detection probes in drops using a parallelized step emulsification device. Cells recovered from the emulsion are analysed and sorted by flow cytometry.

A set of 3D-printed analytical devices were developed to investigate erythrocytes (ERYs) processed in conventional and modified storage solutions used in transfusion medicine.

Blood plasma extraction using a 3D-printed filtration module coupled with magnetofluidic nucleic acid purification and quantitative PCR in a plastic cartridge enables a rapid, portable solution to screening and assessing HIV viral load.

We measure intact neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) in a drop of blood.

Single cells have unique biophysical signatures that can rapidly change during various disease states.

Using printed circuit board-based digital microfluidics, a point-of-care blood coagulation assay was developed to simultaneously assess the clotting tendency and the stiffness of the resultant blood clot.

A magnetophoretic cytometry chip with integrated purification and multiplexed readout for membrane antigen expression in hematological samples.

This paper describes an advanced on-chip whole human blood fractionation and cell isolation process combining an aqueous two-phase system to create complex separation layers with a centrifugal microfluidic platform to control and automate the assay.

This occlusive thrombosis-on-a-chip microfluidic device can be used to test antithrombotic drugs. The device uses an on-chip chaotic mixer to introduce EDTA and quench downstream coagulation, essential for reliable determination of occlusion time.

A point-of-care diagnostic technology and approach is presented to perform both anemia detection and hemoglobin variant identification in a single test using paper-based microchip electrophoresis.

In vitro single-cell testing of mechanical degradation of red blood cells (RBCs) after undergoing hypoxia fatigue cycles in the microfluidic device, mimicking cyclic oxygen tension variations RBCs experience during in vivo blood circulation.

A simple, economical and scalable microfluidic separation technology (ExoDFF) for label-free isolation of circulating extracellular vesicles (EVs) from whole blood.

We developed an on-chip photoacoustic (PA) flow cytometry microfluidic chip for rapid red blood cell counting and osmolarity measurement.

We present the fundamental theory and experimental validations of an integrated ferrohydrodynamic cell separation (iFCS) method that can isolate circulating tumor cells with a high recovery rate.

A three-stage i-Mag device combines the passive inertial microfluidics and the active magnetophoresis method for rapid, precise, and tumor antigen-independent separation of rare tumor cells from blood.

Microfluidic Impedance Red Cell Assay (MIRCA) is integrated with capillary network-inspired micropillar arrays and electrical impedance sensing electrodes to enable standardized assessment of red blood cell-mediated microvascular occlusion.

We demonstrate a label free and high-throughput microbubble-based acoustic microstreaming technique to isolate rare circulating cells from cancer patients with a capture efficiency of 94% while preserving cell functional integrity within 8 minutes.

A low-cost portable device was developed with a coin vibration motor for quantification of red blood cell aggregation.

Inertial lift force towards inflection points is enhanced by the combined effect of U-shape channel and co-flow, which enables unprecedented high-throughput cell separations from untreated whole blood.

A gradient of microcapillary networks and microfluidic anastomoses enable standardized quantitative assessment of red blood cell mediated microvascular occlusion.