Numerical simulations of cell flow and trapping within microfluidic channels for stiffness based cell isolation

Mutabe S Aljaghtham; Zixiang L Liu; Jing J Guo; Jin He; Emrah Celik

doi:10.1016/j.jbiomech.2019.01.010

Numerical simulations of cell flow and trapping within microfluidic channels for stiffness based cell isolation

J Biomech. 2019 Mar 6:85:43-49. doi: 10.1016/j.jbiomech.2019.01.010. Epub 2019 Jan 11.

Authors

Mutabe S Aljaghtham¹, Zixiang L Liu², Jing J Guo³, Jin He³, Emrah Celik⁴

Affiliations

¹ Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, University of Miami, USA.
² Department Mechanical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, USA.
³ Department of Physics, Florida International University, USA.
⁴ Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, University of Miami, USA. Electronic address: e.celik@miami.edu.

PMID: 30655079
DOI: 10.1016/j.jbiomech.2019.01.010

Abstract

Analysis of rare cells in heterogenous mixtures is proven to be beneficial for regenerative medicine, cancer treatment and prenatal diagnostics. Scarcity of these cells, however, makes the isolation process extremely challenging. Efficiency in cell isolation is still low and therefore, novel cell isolation strategies with new biomarkers need exploration. In this study, we investigated the feasibility of using the mechanical stiffness difference to detect and isolate the rare cells from the surrounding cells without labelling them. Fluid and solid mechanics simulations have shown that cell isolation can be performed at high efficiency using stiffness-based isolation. Accuracy of the numerical simulations is established using microfluidic flow chamber experiments.

Keywords: Cancer; Cell isolation; Deformation; Finite element analysis; Stiffness.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

Biomechanical Phenomena
Cell Separation / methods*
Computer Simulation
Humans
Microfluidics*
Models, Biological*