Conclusion
This automated CTC enumeration platform demonstrates not only a sound strategy in integrating a specially designed multi-functional microfluidic chip with a unique image processing algorithm for robust, accurate, and "hands-free" CTC enumeration, but may also lead to its use as a novel in vitro diagnostic device used in clinics and laboratories as readily as a routine blood test.
Methods
The platform consists of a multi-functional microfluidic chip and a unique image processing algorithm. The microfluidic chip integrates blood filtering, cell isolation, and single cell positioning to ensure minimal cell loss, efficient cell isolation, and fixed arraying of single cells to facilitate downstream image processing. By taking advantage of the microfluidic chip design to reduce calculation loads and eliminate measurement errors, our specially designed algorithm has the capability of rapidly interpreting hundreds of images to provide accurate CTC counts.
Results
Following intensive optimization of the microfluidic chip, the image processing algorithm, and their collaboration, we verified the complete platform by enumerating CTCs from six clinical blood samples of patients with breast cancer. Compared to tube-based CTC isolation and manual CTC identification, our platform had better accuracy and reduced the time needed from sample loading to result review by 50%.