Cell Separation Through Ascending and Descending Curvilinear Microchannels

Separation of rare cells such as fetal cells from blood has potential importance in disease investigation and prevention. In this paper we report a new method of cancer cells separation from patient’s blood by inertial focusing technique. A design and simulation of ascending and descending curvilinear microchannels for separation of particles resembling cancer cells have been presented. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) design and simulation of ascending and descending microchannels is used for cell separation. The simulation was carried out in two stages including focusing and separation. The ascending curvilinear channel design demonstrated favorable focusing and separation. Separation with 100% purity and efficiency of the unwanted particle was achieved at Reynolds number (Re) = 8.50 and velocity 0.105m/s. Reynolds number 9.25 and 10.06 with corresponding velocities 0.115 m/s and 0.125 m/s were also investigated for cell seperation. In case of descending curvilinear channel, cell separation was not good. Considering cancer cells size about 15 µm, our proposed ascending microchannel is a good candidate for cancer cells separation from blood.