Researchers have developed a high throughput Static Droplet Microfluidic (SDM) device to detect Circulating Tumour Cells (CTCs)

Researchers from the University of Technology Sydney have developed a new device that can detect and analyze cancer cells from blood samples, enabling doctors to avoid invasive biopsy surgeries, and to monitor treatment progress.

Effective isolation and in-depth analysis of Circulating Tumour Cells (CTCs) are greatly needed in diagnosis, prognosis and monitoring of the therapeutic response of cancer patients but have not been completely fulfilled by conventional approaches. 

The Static Droplet Microfluidic device is able to rapidly detect circulating tumor cells that have broken away from a primary tumor and entered the bloodstream. The device uses a unique metabolic signature of cancer to differentiate tumor cells from normal blood cells.

The Static Droplet Microfluidic (SDM) device with 38,400 chambers is capable of isolating and classifying the number of metabolically active CTCs in peripheral blood at single-cell resolution.

Owing to the miniaturisation and compartmentalisation capability of our device, the researchers have demonstrated the ability to precisely measure the lactate production of different types of cancer cells inside 125 pL droplets at single-cell resolution.

The results have shown the ability to precisely distinguish metabolically active CTCs from the blood using the proposed SDM device. The workflow is simple and robust which can eliminate the need for specialised equipment and expertise required for single-cell analysis of CTCs and facilitate on-site metabolic screening of cancer cells.

The study, “Rapid metabolomic screening of cancer cells via high-throughput static droplet microfluidics,” has just been published in the journal, Biosensors and Bioelectronics.

reference link : More information: Payar Radfar et al, Rapid metabolomic screening of cancer cells via high-throughput static droplet microfluidics, Biosensors and Bioelectronics (2022). DOI: 10.1016/j.bios.2022.114966