Stress-free Centrifugo-magnetic 2d-separation of Cancer Cells in a Stopped-flow Mode

This paper presents a refined centrifugo-magnetophoretic platform enabling 2-dimensional separation of cancer cells from background cells [1]. The multi-force, stopped-flow separation combines centrifugal sedimentation with lateral magnetic deflection. In this way, hydrodynamic stresses and variations typical in pressure-driven microfluidic platforms [2][3] are minimized, and collisions between cells and chamber walls, a common disadvantage of stand-alone magnetic separation systems, is avoided. In this work, basic separation of magnetic particles from a background of non-magnetic particles is shown first. Then, magnetic particles functionalized with anti-EpCAM antibodies are used to successfully capture and separate MCF-7 breast cancer cells from background HeLa cells.