Issue 8, 2019

Label-free separation of leukocyte subpopulations using high throughput multiplex acoustophoresis

Abstract

Multiplex separation of mixed cell samples is required in a variety of clinical and research applications. Herein, we present an acoustic microchip with multiple outlets and integrated pre-alignment channel to enable high performance and label-free separation of three different cell or particle fractions simultaneously at high sample throughput. By implementing a new cooling system for rigorous temperature control and minimal acoustic energy losses, we were able to operate the system isothermally and sort suspensions of 3, 5 and 7 μm beads with high efficiencies (>95.4%) and purities (>96.3%) at flow rates up to 500 μL min−1 corresponding to a throughput of ∼2.5 × 106 beads per min. Also, human viable white blood cells were successfully fractionated into lymphocytes, monocytes and granulocytes with high purities of 96.5 ± 1.6%, 71.8 ± 10.1% and 98.8 ± 0.5%, respectively, as well as high efficiencies (96.8 ± 3.3%, 66.7 ± 3.2% and 99.0 ± 0.7%) at flow rates up to 100 μL min−1 (∼100 000 cells per min). By increasing the flow rate up to 300 μL min−1 (∼300 000 cells per min) both lymphocytes and granulocytes were still recovered with high purities (92.8 ± 1.9%, 98.2 ± 1 .0%), whereas the monocyte purity decreased to 20.9 ± 10.3%. The proposed isothermal multiplex acoustophoresis platform offers efficient fractionation of complex samples in a label-free and continuous manner at thus far unreached high sample throughput rates.

Graphical abstract: Label-free separation of leukocyte subpopulations using high throughput multiplex acoustophoresis

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
20 feb 2019
Accepted
06 mar 2019
First published
06 mar 2019
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY license

Lab Chip, 2019,19, 1406-1416

Label-free separation of leukocyte subpopulations using high throughput multiplex acoustophoresis

A. Urbansky, F. Olm, S. Scheding, T. Laurell and A. Lenshof, Lab Chip, 2019, 19, 1406 DOI: 10.1039/C9LC00181F

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