Temperature-tunable micropillars enable programmable sorting of particles and cells

Using this device, researchers successfully separated multiple particle populations.

The short version

• Additionally, they efficiently isolated viable cancer cells, white blood cells and red blood cells from diluted whole blood.
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• "PNIPAM hydrogel changes its volume with temperature.

What happened

At lower temperatures, the micropillars swell and narrow the gaps between them; at higher temperatures, they shrink and widen the gaps," Nisisako explains. These temperature-induced changes in pillar geometry regulate the size threshold for particle migration.

Why it matters

The researchers used two Peltier elements to establish a temperature gradient along the DLD array.

Summary by Nerd News Network. Read the full article at Phys.org via the links above and below.