Characterization of a Hydrodynamic Well for Non-invasive Trapping of Single Cells in a Microfluidic Device
Date Issued
2010
Date
2010
Author(s)
Tseng, Chan-Chia
Abstract
Single cell trapping for measuring different cellular response is important for a variety of applications including rare cell studies, minimal residual disease, and improved understanding of basic cell biology. The purpose of this thesis is to provide an integrated noninvasive microfluidic platform which can trap single cells for subsequent studies.
The proposed platform utilizes Lorentz force to drive an oscillating microplate generating localized low pressure region, or a hydrodynamic well, in order to trap single cells along the edge of the microplate. Cells are levitated by a time-mean low pressure due to nonlinear flow streaming, fixing cells in a spatial region against background flow. Fabrication of the device involved conventional photolithographic soft lithographic processes, with two masks for the microstructure and one for the microchannel. Different sizes of polystyrene particles were used to verify the wide range of single cell trapping feasible. Jurkat cells in suspended state were used to test the selectivity of hydrodynamic well and the ability to sort different size. Dimensional analysis was used to characterize the physics of the flow filed by commercial simulation software (COMSOL Multiphysics®).
Results show the trapping force is in the range of dozens of pico-Newton with only 3 to 5 Vpp of driving voltage. Ability to select different size of cell shows the capability to trap different cell sizes with proper conditions. This microfluidic device provides a robust approach to trap single cells or multiple isolated cells effectively for cellular analysis.
Subjects
single-cell trapping
noninvasive
cell manipulation
hydrodynamic force
dimensionless analysis
Type
thesis
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