Acoustop horesis pre-alignment of cells enables labelfree enrichment of prostate cancer cells in blood
Augustsson P., Magnusson C., Lilja H., Laurell T.
We have developed a microfluidic chip for isolation of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) in blood based on microchannel acoustophoresis. Ultrasound radiation forces are used to separate cancer cells from blood cells in a continuous flow format. Separation was dramatically improved after incorporation of a 2-dimensional acoustic pre-alignment of the cells before entering the acoustophoresis separation channel. Temperature regulation of the microfluidic chip (±0.5?C) enabled stable and reproducible separation. The chip constitutes a further development and refinement of methods previously presented by our group at μTAS [1-3].