An automated detection of influenza virus based on 3-D magnetophoretic separation and magnetic label.

Automated detection of the influenza virus is important for the prevention of infectious viruses. Herein, assisted by three-dimensional (3-D) magnetophoretic separation and magnetic label, an automated detection device was constructed for H7N9 influenza virus hemagglutinin. Multi-layer glass slides were used to generate a 3-D microchannel network with two-level channels, realizing 3-D magnetophoretic separation with a magnetic field in the vertical direction to microchannels for the sample treatment. After the immunomagnetic separation, a magnetic-tagged complex was captured in an antibody-modified glass capillary, where magnetic beads further as a label could cause the voltage change of the miniature tube liquid sensor to obtain the detection signal. Moreover, the whole detection process and detection results were controlled and read through a liquid crystal display (LCD) screen to improve the automation. Finally, the detection limit was calculated to be 8.4 ng mL-1 for H7N9 hemagglutinin and had good specificity and reproducibility. These results indicate that this detection device proposes promising automated avenues for the early detection of infectious diseases.

Negative depletion mediated brightfield circulating tumour cell identification strategy on microparticle-based microfluidic chip.

BACKGROUND: The most convenient circulating tumor cells (CTCs) identification method is direct analysis of cells under bright field microscopy by which CTCs can be comprehensive studied based on morphology, phenotype or even cellular function. However, universal cell markers and a standard tumour cell map do not exist, thus limiting the clinical application of CTCs. RESULTS: This paper focuses on an automatic and convenient negative depletion strategy for circulating tumour cell identification under bright field microscopy. In this strategy, immune microparticles (IMPs) are applied to negatively label white blood cells rather than the tumour cells, such that tumour cells can be directly distinguished under brightfield of the microscopy. In this way, all of the heterogeneous tumour cells and their phenotype properties can be retained for further cancer-related studies. In addition, a wedge-shaped microfluidic chip is constructed for heterogeneous CTC pre-purification and enrichment by size, thus significantly decreasing the interference of haematological cells. Additionally, all cell treatments are processed automatically, and the tumour cells can be rapidly counted and distinguished via customized cell analytical software, showing high detection efficiency and automation. This IMPs based negative cell labelling strategy can also be combined with other classic cell identification methods, thus demonstrating its excellent compatibility. CONCLUSION: This identification strategy features simple and harmless for tumour cells, as well as excellent accuracy and efficiency. And the low equipment demand and high automation level make it promise for extensive application in basic medical institutions.

Simultaneous and automated detection of influenza A virus hemagglutinin H7 and H9 based on magnetism and size mediated microfluidic chip.

Influenza viruses with multiple subtypes have highly virulent in humans, of which influenza hemagglutinin (HA) is the major viral surface antigen. Simultaneous and automated detection of multiple influenza HA are of great importance for early-stage diagnosis and operator protection. Herein, a magnetism and size mediated microfluidic platform was developed for point-of-care detection of multiple influenza HA. With multiplex microvalves and computer program control, the detection process showed high automation which had a great potential for avoiding the high-risk virus exposure to the operator. Taking advantage of magnetism and size mediated multiple physical fields, multiple influenza HA could be simultaneous separation and detection depended on different-size magnetic beads. Using high-luminance quantum dots as reporter, this assay achieved high sensitivity with a detection limit of 3.4 ng/mL for H7N9 HA and 4.5 ng/mL for H9N2 HA, and showed excellent specificity, anti-interference ability and good reproducibility. These results indicate that this method may propose new avenues for early detection of multiple influenza subtypes.

High-performance multiplex microvalves fabrication and using for tumor cells staining on a microfluidic chip.

As we all know, microvalve holds great importance for microfluidic manipulation in chip. Herein, a simple method of high-performance multiplex microvalves chip fabrication was reported. In this method, a sandwich structure is established by inserting a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) membrane into two glasses, which is cheap and simple without any complex silicon-based device or soft lithography. Taking advantages of both the elasticity of the PDMS and the rigidity of glass, the microvalve chip showed good controls performance and had the ability of multiplex integration. Moreover, aided by a computer design program, this microvalves chip can be performed automatically, showing great potential to develop new highly integrated microfluidic devices. In addition, the fabricated multiplex microvalve chip is further successfully used for staining tumor cells automatically, improving the efficiency of cell identification process and reducing human errors. These results indicate this method opens up new avenues for multiplex microvalves fabrication and its biological application.

A simple pyramid-shaped microchamber towards highly efficient isolation of circulating tumor cells from breast cancer patients.

Isolation and detection of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) has showed a great clinical impact for tumor diagnosis and treatment monitoring. Despite significant progresses of the existing technologies, feasible and cost-effective CTC isolation techniques are more desirable. In this study, a novel method was developed for highly efficient isolation of CTCs from breast cancer patients based on biophysical properties using a pyramid-shaped microchamber. Through optimization tests, the outlet height of 6 µm and the flow rate of 200 µL/min were chosen as the optimal conditions. The capture efficiencies of more than 85% were achieved for cancer cell lines (SKBR3, BGC823, PC3, and H1975) spiked in DMEM and healthy blood samples without clogging issue. In clinic assay, the platform identified CTCs in 13 of 20 breast cancer patients (65%) with an average of 4.25 ± 4.96 CTCs/2 mL, whereas only one cell was recognized as CTC in 1 of 15 healthy blood samples. The statistical analyses results demonstrated that both CTC positive rate and CTC counts were positive correlated with TNM stage (p < 0.001; p = 0.02, respectively). This microfluidic platform successfully demonstrated the clinical feasibility of CTC isolation and would hold great potential of clinical application in predicting and monitoring the prognosis of cancer patients.