Team:BostonU HW/Isolation

BostonU_HW

Cell Sorting
Cell Sorting

Summary

The ability to sort cells by type or physical properties is a valuable tool in many synthetic biology labs. Prior to analysis or in order to perform specialized protocols, creating homogenous cell suspensions from a mixture is necessary. In addition to sorting cells, the removal of cell fragments, activated magnetic particles or unwanted debris through sorting also makes up a key part of purification protocols.
This microfluidic chip design carries out cell sorting as a cell suspension is passed through it. Cells are sorted based on size and pushed to the periphery of the channel. These cells are then carried away from the main solution through the two periphery outputs, and the cell-free solution can be collected from the central output.

This chip has been milled, tested and deemed fully fluid functional. For a more complete understanding of the chip, click the download button in order to access its CNC millable SVG files, JSON file, full device documentation and PNG files of its flow and control layers.

The design for this chip was inspired by the following paper:
Hou, H. W., Bhagat, A. A. S., Lin Chong, A. G., Mao, P., Wei Tan, K. S., Han, J., & Lim, C. T. (2010). Deformability based cell margination—A simple microfluidic design for malaria-infected erythrocyte separation. Lab on a Chip, 10(19), 2605. https://doi.org/10.1039/c003873c

Testing

This following video shows a test of the chip using colored water. This is to show the functionality of the chip. No biological material was inserted into this chip.