On the minimum detection limit of circulating tumor cells in an antibody-functionalized microchannel array

The minimum detection limit in isolation of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) from binary mixtures is experimentally explored utilizing microchannel arrays functionalized with EpCAM antibodies. Hence, the tested binary mixtures contained EpCAM-positive and EpCAM-negative cells serving as target and non-target cells, respectively. The ratio of target to non-target cells in the mixtures ranged from 1:1 to 1:100,000. The dependence of the device performance, particularly its sensitivity and specificity in isolating target cells, on the applied flow shear rate is characterized. The results demonstrate capture of circulating tumor cells from mixtures with high sensitivity and high specificity. The multichannel array devices allow testing of samples within a shorter time, which is critical for high throughput applications.