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. 2010 Apr;8(4):457-465.
Epub 2009 Jul 24.

Cell motion and recovery in a two-stream microfluidic device

Clara Mata, Ellen Longmire  1 , David McKenna  2 , Katie Glass  3 , Allison Hubel  3
Affiliations

Cell motion and recovery in a two-stream microfluidic device

Clara Mata et al. Microfluid Nanofluidics. 2010 Apr.

Abstract

The motion of cells in a two-stream microfluidic device designed to extract cryoprotective agents from cell suspensions was tested under a range of conditions. Jurkat cells (lymphoblasts) in a 10% dimethylsulfoxide solution were driven in parallel with phosphate-buffered saline solution wash streams through single rectangular channel sections and multiple sections in series. The influence of cell-stream flow rate and cell volume fraction (CVF) on cell viability and recovery were examined. The channel depth was 500 lm, and average cell stream velocity within the channels was varied from 3.6 to8.5 mm/s corresponding with cell stream Reynolds numbers of 2.6-6.0. Cell viability measured at device outlets was high for all cases examined indicating no significant cell damage within the device. Downstream of a single stage, cell recoveries measured 90-100% for average cell stream velocities ≥6 mm/s and for CVFs up to 20%. Cell recovery downstream of multistage devices also measured 90-100% after a critical device population time. This time was found to be five times the average cell residence time within the device. The measured recovery values were significantly larger than those typically obtained using conventional cell washing methods.

Keywords: Biological cell; Cell processing; Cryopreservation; Laminar channel flow; Microfluidics.

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Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
a Sketch of experimental set up. The cell suspension is driven into stage 1 by a small syringe. Fresh wash is driven into each stage by three independent large syringes. Wash + DMSO is drawn from each stage by three independent large syringes.b Sketch of one stage (to scale), and c exploded view of the stage (to scale)
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Cell recovery as a function of dimensionless time t* for fq = 0.23 and CVF = 2%, parameterized by the cell-laden stream flow rate qC (Re = 2.6–6.0) for a single stage device. Suspension of Jurkat cells in 10% DMSO
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Normalized cell volume fraction CVF* = CVFtip/CVF0 at the outlet of a 20 mL syringe as a function of displaced volume V*, parameterized by the flow rate qC (Re = 2.6–6.0). Suspension of Jurkat cells in 10% DMSO with average cell concentration CVF0 = 2%
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Cell recovery as a function of dimensionless time t* for fq = 0.23 and qC = 1.41 mL/min (Re = 4.3), parameterized by the cell volume fraction (CVF). Suspension of Jurkat cells in 10% DMSO
Fig. 5
Fig. 5
Cell recovery as a function of dimensionless time t* for fq = 0.23 and qC = 1.41 mL/min (Re = 4.3). Suspension of Jurkat cells in 10% DMSO with CVF = 2%. Multi-stage device
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