Contactless Dielectrophoretic Separation of Circulating Tumor Cells From Red Blood Cells and Platelets in a Viscoelastic Medium

A cancerous tumor harbors millions of genetically mutated cells, which after hyperproliferation are picked up and transported to various sites in the human body by the bloodstream or lymphatic system. These circulating tumor cells (CTCs) become the seeds for the subsequent growth of secondary tumors. Hence, CTCs hold information about a tumor that could be the key to cancer diagnosis and treatment. This work focused on the designing and simulating a microfluidic platform using contactless-dielectrophoresis (cDEP) to separate CTCs from platelets and red blood cells (RBCs) in a viscoelastic fluid flowing through a microfluidic channel. Contactless electrodes with alternating potentials have been used in this microfluidic device. Using the finite element-based solver, the separation in a microfluidic device based on size-based segregation has been simulated. The operating conditions have been varied in this work to determine the optimal conditions for segregation. Under optimal conditions of 150 Pa inlet pressure of working fluid, 2.5 V of applied voltage, and 50 kHz of alternating electric field frequency, the cells were effectively segregation yielding the best results. At these conditions, separation efficiency of 98.5% is achieved for platelets, 97.25% for RBCs, and 98.5% for CTCs for a separation period of 100 s. The angle of separation of the particles is suffered by the cells at various applied voltages (2, 2.5, 3, 3.5, and 4 V). The study demonstrates the validity of a size-based segregation device using cDEP for the segregation of tumor cells and the advancement of microscale devices in cancer detection and diagnosis.