Highly Efficient Isolation of Circulating Tumor Cells Using a Simple Wedge-Shaped Microfluidic Device.

Objective: We have developed a novel simple wedge-shaped microfluidic device for highly efficient isolation of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) from cancer patient blood samples.

Methods: We used wet chemical etching and thermal bonding technologies to fabricate the wedge-shaped microdevice and performed optimization assays to obtain optimal capture parameters. Cancer cells spiked samples were used to evaluate the capture performance.

Highly efficient isolation and release of circulating tumor cells based on size-dependent filtration and degradable ZnO nanorods substrate in a wedge-shaped microfluidic chip.

Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) have been regarded as the major cause of metastasis, holding significant insights for tumor diagnosis and treatment. Although many efforts have been made to develop methods for CTC isolation and release in microfluidic system, it remains significant challenges to realize highly efficient isolation and gentle release of CTCs for further cellular and bio-molecular analyses. In this study, we demonstrate a novel method for CTC isolation and release using a simple wedge-shaped microfluidic chip embedding degradable znic oxide nanorods (ZnNRs) substrate.