Microfluidic platform with integrated GMR sensors for quantification of cancer cells

•A fully automated, cost effective approach for cancer cell quantification is presented for the first time.•All operations on our cell chip are performed in a static fluid.•No need for pumps or other integrated microfluidic components.

Cell quantification is crucial for single cell analysis as well as for scientific studies that require biological and chemical analysis of cell populations. In this paper we present a fully automated and computer controlled microfluidic platform capable of quantifying cancer cells that have been pre-isolated from whole blood samples. The innovative aspect of the proposed cell chip is that it utilizes functionalized magnetic particles (MPs) to (a) label and (b) separate, for further analysis, the cancer cells using integrated conducting microstructures. Experiments using Jurkat Leukemia cells were carried out as a proof of concept. Following magnetic separation the presence and the number of magnetically labeled cells can be subsequently detected. This process enables the quantification of the cancer cells using integrated giant magnetoresistance (GMR) sensors.