Microfluidic Cell Counter/Sorter Utilizing Laser Tweezers and Multiple Particle Tracing Technique

This paper proposes a novel microfluidic system for cell/microparticle recognition, counting, and sorting utilizing a computer controlled digital image processing technique (DIP) and optical tweezers under microfluidic configuration. Cell samples are firstly sorted using an electrokinetic focus apparatus and flow through a region of interesting (ROI) for digital images inspection. Home-built digital image processing (DIP) system is used to real-time recognize, count and trace the cell/particle samples in the microfluidic channel. Synchronized control signals generated by the DIP system turn on a focused IR laser beam to switch the flow direction of the traced target cells and pull out the target cells out of the sample flow stream. Experimental result shows the proposed system can sort cell/particle with the rate of up to 200 cell/min. The proposed system provides a simple, low-cost but high-performance solution for cell manipulation in a microfluidic device.