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3D microfilter device for viable circulating tumor cell (CTC) enrichment from blood

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Abstract

Detection of circulating tumor cells has emerged as a promising minimally invasive diagnostic and prognostic tool for patients with metastatic cancers. We report a novel three dimensional microfilter device that can enrich viable circulating tumor cells from blood. This device consists of two layers of parylene membrane with pores and gap precisely defined with photolithography. The positions of the pores are shifted between the top and bottom membranes. The bottom membrane supports captured cells and minimize the stress concentration on cell membrane and sustain cell viability during filtration. Viable cell capture on device was investigated with scanning electron microscopy, confocal microscopy, and immunofluorescent staining using model systems of cultured tumor cells spiked in blood or saline. The paper presents and validates this new 3D microfiltration concept for circulation tumor cell enrichment application. The device provides a highly valuable tool for assessing and characterizing viable enriched circulating tumor cells in both research and clinical settings.

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Acknowledgement

The funding of the project was provided by NIH 1R21 CA123027-01. The authors would like to thank for all the members at Caltech micromachining group and Dr. Cote’s pathology group for their valuable assistance. The authors greatly appreciate for the help from Dr. Chris Water at Caltech Biological Imaging Center on using confocal microscopy.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Bioengineering, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, 16802, USA

    Siyang Zheng

  2. BioSciences Division, Oak Ridge National Lab, Oak Ridge, TN, 37831, USA

    Henry K. Lin

  3. Department of Electrical Engineering, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, 91125, USA

    Bo Lu & Yu-Chong Tai

  4. Department of Pathology, University of Miami, Miami, FL, 33136, USA

    Anthony Williams, Ram Datar & Richard J. Cote

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  1. Siyang Zheng
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  2. Henry K. Lin
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  5. Ram Datar
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  6. Richard J. Cote
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  7. Yu-Chong Tai
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Correspondence to Siyang Zheng.

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Siyang Zheng and Henry K. Lin made equal contribution.

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Zheng, S., Lin, H.K., Lu, B. et al. 3D microfilter device for viable circulating tumor cell (CTC) enrichment from blood. Biomed Microdevices 13, 203–213 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10544-010-9485-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10544-010-9485-3

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