Cell Separation Using Microfluidic Devices

Separation of white blood cells from red blood cells is the first step in the analysis of blood. Separation of cells in microfluidic devices is performed by different approaches such as hydrodynamic, microfiltering, acoustic, electrokinetic, dielectrophoretic, and magnetic approaches. Microfiltration is the simplest of these approaches. Different microfiltering approaches are: weir, pillars, membrane, cross-flow, tortuous channels designs, between others. This project presents a review on the different designs that have been previously used and the efficiencies obtained. These devices are fabricated using photolithography techniques with silicon and glass. It has been shown that cross-flow filters avoid the clogging and jamming problem encountered with other designs. Moreover, higher efficiencies were obtained using the cross-flow filters. Separation efficiencies of around 70-95% for trapping WBCs have been achieved.