Microfluidic cell sizing using hydrophoretic size-based separation

This paper presents a microfluidic cell sizing method using hydrophoretic size-based separation. By exploiting slanted obstacles in a microchannel, we can generate a lateral pressure gradient so that microparticles can be deflected and arranged along lateral flows induced by the gradient. Using such movement of particles, we discriminated 8 to 15 μm-sized beads. We measured the size of U937 cells by comparing the hydrophoretic response of the cells to those of the size-standard beads whose diameters are known. Due to its simple design and fabrication, the sizing method can be easily integrated with other microfluidic components such as cell culture chambers conducting on-chip sizing and sorting.