Abstract
For molecular analysis of the rare cells, such as Circulating Tumor Cells (CTCs), the rare cells isolation from the suspension which contains large population of other cells on the single cells level is required. Here, we propose a cells layouter by using surface tension and suction force to array single cells on the microfluidic chip with open channels. Cells flowed to the meniscus of air/liquid interface due to the suction force caused by a passive pump. Then, through the move of meniscus which was generated by the move of microfluidic chip, the cells were deposited and trapped in the specified channels with pockets. We characterized different kinds of materials of suction roll, and determined the microfluidic chip design. Under the human gastric carcinoma cell line (GCIY) cells experiments, we demonstrated that by using this system, the collect rate of cells which could be picked up was near 100 % while the flow rate was 57.1 μl/min. This cells layouter will be conducive to single rare cells analysis because the trapped cells could be picked up by glass pipette rapidly and easily.