Issue 4, 2024

Cascaded elasto-inertial separation of malignant tumor cells from untreated malignant pleural and peritoneal effusions

Abstract

Separation of malignant tumor cells (MTCs) from large background cells in untreated malignant pleural and peritoneal effusions (MPPEs) is critical for improving the sensitivity and efficiency of cytological diagnosis. Herein, we proposed a cascaded elasto-inertial cell separation (CEICS) device integrating an interfacial elasto-inertial microfluidic channel with a symmetric contraction expansion array (CEA) channel for pretreatment-free, high-recovery-ratio, and high-purity separation of MTCs from clinical MPPEs. First, the effects of flow-rate ratio, cell concentration, and cell size on separation performances in two single-stage channels were investigated. Then, the performances of the integrated CEICS device were characterized using blood cells spiked with three different tumor cells (MCF-7, MDA-MB-231, and A549 cells) at a high total throughput of 240 μL min−1. An average recovery ratio of ∼95% and an average purity of ∼61% for the three tumor cells were achieved. Finally, we successfully applied the CEICS device for the pretreatment-free separation of MTCs from clinical MPPEs of different cancers. Our CEICS device may provide a preparation tool for improving the sensitivity and efficiency of cytological examination.

Graphical abstract: Cascaded elasto-inertial separation of malignant tumor cells from untreated malignant pleural and peritoneal effusions

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
21 Sep 2023
Accepted
19 Jan 2024
First published
20 Jan 2024
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY license

Lab Chip, 2024,24, 697-706

Cascaded elasto-inertial separation of malignant tumor cells from untreated malignant pleural and peritoneal effusions

C. Ni, D. Wu, Y. Chen, S. Wang and N. Xiang, Lab Chip, 2024, 24, 697 DOI: 10.1039/D3LC00801K

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