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A thin whole blood smear prepared via pumpless microfluidics

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Abstract

Automated generation of a thin blood smear with a pumpless, capillary-driven, microfluidic would overcome the limitations of manually prepared smears and enable potential point-of-care (POC) applications. Herein, this was accomplished with microfluidic design that leveraged an amphiphilic silicone and channel pillars. The silicone (Sylgard 184) was combined with a surface-modifying additive (SMA), an amphiphilic poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO)-silane at varying concentrations (3, 5, and 7 wt%). The channels were formed with dimensions of 4.7 µm, 250 µm, and 16 mm (height × width × length, respectively). Pillar sections were added at the inlet, outlet and two interior sections to not only prevent channel collapse but to improve flow and cell distribution. After deposition of blood (0.3, 1, and 2 µL) to the channel inlet, the flow time and flow stop times were recorded and the channels imaged to assess smear uniformity and for automated cell counting. A thin blood smear was generated for microfluidic chips prepared with 5 wt% SMA and provided with 0.3 µL of blood.

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Acknowledgements

G.L.C. gratefully acknowledges support from the National Science Foundation (#1402846). K.S.D. gratefully acknowledges support from the National Science Foundation (#HRD-1502335). All authors acknowledge support from the Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station (TEES).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biomedical Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, 77843, USA

    Kokou S. Dogbevi, Bryan Khai D. Ngo, Kimberly L. Branan, Amanda M. Gibbens, Melissa A. Grunlan & Gerard L. Coté

  2. Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, 77843, USA

    Melissa A. Grunlan

  3. Department of Chemistry, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, 77843, USA

    Melissa A. Grunlan

  4. Center for Remote Health Technologies and Systems, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, 77843, USA

    Melissa A. Grunlan & Gerard L. Coté

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  1. Kokou S. Dogbevi
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  2. Bryan Khai D. Ngo
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  3. Kimberly L. Branan
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  4. Amanda M. Gibbens
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  6. Gerard L. Coté
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Correspondence to Gerard L. Coté.

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Dogbevi, K.S., Ngo, B.K.D., Branan, K.L. et al. A thin whole blood smear prepared via pumpless microfluidics. Microfluid Nanofluid 25, 59 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10404-021-02457-4

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