Modeling adhesion-based cell sorting in ridged microchannels

Sorting of biological cells with specific molecular surface markers is required for a variety of applications in biological sciences, cell therapy, and medical diagnostics. Microfluidic devices have proven to be a promising method of establishing label-free sorting based on cell biophysical properties, including cell adhesiveness. In our approach we utilize a microfluidic platform that consists of a microchannel decorated with diagonal ridges and coated with adhesive molecules. To examine the effects of specific cell adhesion on cell trajectories, we perform computational simulations utilizing the Bell model to model specific interactions between cell and channel surfaces. We consider compliant cells with a range of elasticities and adhesion strength and examine the effect of ridge geometry on cell trajectories in the microchannel. The simulations reveal differential trajectories that depend on the cell properties which can be used to effectively separate cells based on their adhesiveness. The results provide useful insights into the design of microfluidic methods for high throughput of biological cell sorting.