A Narrow Straight Microchannel Array for Analysis of Transiting Speed of Floating Cancer Cells

Abstract

Investigating floating cells along a narrow microchannel (e.g., a blood vessel) for their transiting speeds and the corresponding roles of cell physical properties can deepen our understanding of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) metastasis via blood vessels. Many existing studies focus on the cell transiting process in blood vessel-like microchannels; further analytical studies are desired to summarize behaviors of the floating cell movement under different conditions. In this work, we perform a theoretical analysis to establish a relation between the transiting speed and key cell physical properties. We also conduct computational fluid dynamics simulation and microfluidic experiments to verify the theoretical model. This work reveals key cell physical properties and the channel configurations determining the transiting speed. The reported model can be applied to other works with various dimensions of microchannels as a more general way to evaluate the cancer cell metastasis ability with microfluidics.

Characterization of Shrink Film Properties for Rapid Microfluidics Lab-on-Chip Fabrication

“…Microfluidics involves the examination and control of minute quantities of fluids, typically in the microliter or nanoliter range. This field has gained significant prominence in research due to its diverse applications in areas like biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, diagnostics, lab-on-chip (LOC), separation and isolation of circulating tumor cells, sperm sorting, and bacteria or algae detection [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 ]. The integration of microscale structures on a single chip has revolutionized research across various domains by enabling the swift manipulation, analysis, and distribution of small samples.…”

Editorial for the Special Issue on Microfluidics and Lab-on-a-Chip Applications for Biosensing

“…In this context, in this Special Issue, we intended to bring to light the development of novel designs for miniaturization and biosensors, and to show its broader potential usage in different research fields. Three original research papers and two review articles were published, focusing mostly on biosensing technologies [1,2], detection [3,4] and macromolecular delivery systems [5].…”

“…In particular, Ren et al [1] reported a narrow straight microchannel array for the analysis of transiting speed of floating cancer cells. Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) have been considered as an indicator in cancer diagnosis, as a decisive step in the formation of a secondary tumor.…”