Cancer Detection with High-throughput Image Cytometry

Abstract

Recent reports indicate that 90% of cancer deaths is caused by cancer metastasis. Cancer metastasis occurs in the body when so-called circulating tumor cells (CTCs) migrate from one place to another. Hence the identification of CTCs provides an opportunity to detect cancer before metastasis. Unfortunately, conventional optical microscopy is incapable of detecting CTCs from the patients' blood because of their extreme rareness (only a few in a billion blood cells). This technological problem can be solved by high-throughput image cytometry—a technique that integrates microfluidics and optical time-stretch imaging. Its ultra-high throughput (up to 100,000 cells/s) and high specificity make it possible to capture the few target cells from a large heterogeneous population with high efficiency. In addition to its ability to provide morphological information, it can be readily integrated with a simultaneous multi-color fluorescence detector for the acquisition of chemical characteristics of the target cells. In this review article, we discuss the principles of optical time-stretch imaging and its application to cancer detection.