Abstract

Inertial Microfluidics for Blood Fractionation

Ian Papautsky, Professor of Bioengineering, Co-Director, NSF Center for Advanced Design & Manufacturing of Integrated Microfluidics, University of Illinois at Chicago

Sorting of cells from complex cellular mixtures is a critical sample preparation step in many biomedical and clinical applications. In the past two decades, microfluidics has introduced a number of techniques for cell soring, including both active and passive approaches. The burgeoning field of inertial microfluidics brings cell focusing and sorting functionalities at throughput orders of magnitude higher than previously available.  However, most inertial microfluidic devices rely on cross-sectional flow-induced drag force to achieve single-position focusing, which inevitably complicates the device design and operation.  Further, to ensure precise sorting of blood, inertial microfluidic devices typically require >20× blood dilution to avoid interparticle interaction, which results in large volume of sample and long processing time.  In addition, they often require long microchannel with small cross-section, which may increase the chance of channel clogging.  To overcome these challenges, we recently introduced a novel integrated microfluidic platform with simple straightforward geometry for efficient blood sorting with high throughput.  The simple geometry permits us to parallel the integrated device to achieve a throughput of ~18 mL/h.  Quantitative measurements indicate a ~99.97% sorting efficiency for Red Blood Cells. The approach offers a number of benefits, including simplicity in fundamental principle and geometry, convenience in design, modification and integration.  We note that one can conveniently parallel more units to further enhance throughput without adding significant complexity to the system.  We envision this device could serve as a powerful tool for blood fractionation and other cellular preparations in biomedical and clinical applications.