Microfluidic concentration and separation of circulating tumor cell clusters from large blood volumes.

Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) are extremely rare in the blood, yet they account for metastasis. Notably, it was reported that CTC clusters (CTCCs) can be 50-100 times more metastatic than single CTCs, making them particularly salient as a liquid biopsy target. Yet they can split apart and are even rarer, complicating their recovery.

Correction: Click chemistry approaches to expand the repertoire of PEG-based fluorinated surfactants for droplet microfluidics.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1039/C8RA01254G.].

Click Chemistry Approaches to Expand the Repertoire of PEG-based Fluorinated Surfactants for Droplet Microfluidics.

We report the novel and simplified synthesis of fluorinated surfactants for droplet microfluidics. The range of applications of droplet microfluidics has greatly expanded during the last decade thanks to its ability to manipulate and process tiny amount of sample and reagents at high throughput in independent reactors. A critical component of the technology is the formulation of the immiscible oil phase that contains surfactants to stabilize droplets.