Sharp-edged geometric obstacles in microfluidics promote deformability-based sorting of cells

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Zhang, Zunmin, Chien, Wei, Henry, Ewan, Fedosov, Dmitry A., Gompper, Gerhard
Format: Preprint
Published: 2019
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author Zhang, Zunmin
Chien, Wei
Henry, Ewan
Fedosov, Dmitry A.
Gompper, Gerhard
author_facet Zhang, Zunmin
Chien, Wei
Henry, Ewan
Fedosov, Dmitry A.
Gompper, Gerhard
contents Sorting cells based on their intrinsic properties is a highly desirable objective, since changes in cell deformability are often associated with various stress conditions and diseases. Deterministic lateral displacement (DLD) devices offer high precision for rigid spherical particles, while their success in sorting deformable particles remains limited due to the complexity of cell traversal in DLDs. We employ mesoscopic hydrodynamics simulations and demonstrate prominent advantages of sharp-edged DLD obstacles for probing deformability properties of red blood cells (RBCs). By consecutive sharpening of the pillar shape from circular to diamond to triangular geometry, a pronounced cell bending around an edge is achieved, serving as a deformability sensor. Bending around the edge is the primary mechanism, which governs the traversal of RBCs through such DLD device. This strategy requires an appropriate degree of cell bending by fluid stresses, which can be controlled by the flow rate, and exhibits good sensitivity to moderate changes in cell deformability. We expect that similar mechanisms should be applicable for the development of novel DLD devices that target intrinsic properties of many other cells.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_1901_03863
institution arXiv
publishDate 2019
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Sharp-edged geometric obstacles in microfluidics promote deformability-based sorting of cells
Zhang, Zunmin
Chien, Wei
Henry, Ewan
Fedosov, Dmitry A.
Gompper, Gerhard
Fluid Dynamics
Soft Condensed Matter
Biological Physics
Sorting cells based on their intrinsic properties is a highly desirable objective, since changes in cell deformability are often associated with various stress conditions and diseases. Deterministic lateral displacement (DLD) devices offer high precision for rigid spherical particles, while their success in sorting deformable particles remains limited due to the complexity of cell traversal in DLDs. We employ mesoscopic hydrodynamics simulations and demonstrate prominent advantages of sharp-edged DLD obstacles for probing deformability properties of red blood cells (RBCs). By consecutive sharpening of the pillar shape from circular to diamond to triangular geometry, a pronounced cell bending around an edge is achieved, serving as a deformability sensor. Bending around the edge is the primary mechanism, which governs the traversal of RBCs through such DLD device. This strategy requires an appropriate degree of cell bending by fluid stresses, which can be controlled by the flow rate, and exhibits good sensitivity to moderate changes in cell deformability. We expect that similar mechanisms should be applicable for the development of novel DLD devices that target intrinsic properties of many other cells.
title Sharp-edged geometric obstacles in microfluidics promote deformability-based sorting of cells
topic Fluid Dynamics
Soft Condensed Matter
Biological Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/1901.03863