Cell Sorting on a Microfluidic Chip

We have developed a microfluidic sorting system that is able to image and sort particles based on the imaging result, and to retrieve them as individual particles. Its sorting principle is based on fluid pulses, thus preserving integrity and vitality of objects, i.e. cells.

The developed modular system covers the full range of sorting applications, including large droplets up to 50 nl, small droplets and particles down to 5 µm diameter and eukaryotic cells. Sorting is controlled by coupling fluid pulses into the sorting channel of the chip. Piezo-generated stroke is transferred to the actor membrane of the chip device using a flexure hinge system, which is permanent part of the systems infrastructure. The sorting chip which itself is made as a disposable without any integrated actors and can be easily exchanged and adopted to the different sorting applications.

Sorting Quality is better than 99.5% for large droplets at a sorting rate of 20 Hz. Particles or cells can be retrieved from the particle stream at particle distances down to 200 µm. Sorting of large droplets, small droplets, particles and cells has been experimentally confirmed.

This modular system represents a compact, cost-effective instrumentation for those research and routine tasks where flexibility is more important than ultra-high throughput. It actually bridges the gap between single cell micro manipulation and high-throughput flow-cytometry and sorting.