Isolation of tumor cells using a new microfluidic incubator with moving-wall structures

Isolation and detection of tumor cells (TCs) from a large amount of biological samples have been a major challenge in clinical diagnosis. To tackle this problem, a three-dimensional micro incubator using deflecting membranes has been reported by our group previously. However, it requires a relatively complicated fabrication process, which involves bonding of multiple polydimethyl siloxane (PDMS) layers. In this study, a new micro incubator equipped with moving-wall structures is presented. Compared with our previous work, the new chip requires a simpler fabrication process and can be activated with ease. Experimental results showed that the developed micro incubator can be used for isolation of tumor cells when incorporated with magnetic beads. Furthermore, counting and detection of these cancer cells can be further performed when integrated with a micro flow cytometer and a micro nucleic acid module. Therefore, the developed device may be promising for further biomedical applications.