Microfluidics for effective concentration and sorting of waterborne protozoan pathogens

•Concentration of parasites with a 96% recovery rate at 1.5 mL/min using microfluidics•Cryptosporidium and Giardia can be separated or jointly concentrated, depending on device operation.•Inertial focussing microfluidics could process 50 mL in less than 10 min.

We report on an inertial focussing based microfluidics technology for concentrating waterborne protozoa, achieving a 96% recovery rate of Cryptosporidium parvum and 86% for Giardia lamblia at a throughput (mL/min) capable of replacing centrifugation. The approach can easily be extended to other parasites and also bacteria.