High throughput capture of circulating tumor cells using an integrated microfluidic system

• An integrated microfluidic system by combination of microfluidic deterministic lateral displacement array and affinity-based cell capture architecture.
• Cancer cell capture with high throughput ∼mL/min.
• Cancer cell capture with more than 90% capture yield.

In this work, we introduced an integrated microfluidic system for fast and efficient circulating tumor cell (CTC) isolation and capture. In this microfluidic platform, a combination of microfluidic deterministic lateral displacement array and affinity-based cell capture architecture, allows for the high efficiency cancer cell enrichment and continuous high throughput and purity cancer cell capture. Using this device to isolate breast cancer cells from spiked blood samples, we achieved an enrichment factor of 1500×, and a high processing throughput of 9.6 mL/min with 90% capture yield and more than 50% capture purity at cell concentration 102 cells/mL. This integrated platform offers a promising approach for CTC capture with high recovery rates, purity and stability, and exhibits potential capability in cancer cell culture and drug screening.