Abstract
Purpose
The ratio of white blood cells to whole blood is very small, less than one percent, about ten ml of the whole blood is necessary for the blood test, and it is very difficult to separate white blood cells from small amount of whole blood. To solve this problem, we fabricated the micro white blood cells separator which was fabricated by arranging micro pillars like a labyrinth in the micro fluidics and tested this device.
Method
The white blood cell separator was prepared by using photolithography. Microstructures were fabricated on a glass substrate using SU-8 3050 photoresist. Microstructures, 10×10μm2 at the base, 60μm in height and the gap width of each microstructure was 10μm, were fabricated like a labyrinth. The target white blood cell is monocyte. Inner wall and microstructures of this separator were coated using Lipidure-CM5206 to protect adsorption of cells and proteins. About 0.1μl of the whole blood and PBS were injected into the separator.
Results
The red blood cells passed through the gap of the microstructures and white some white blood cells were captured. The number of captured monocytes were 120, while the numbers of monocytes contained in 1μl are 100～600.
