Parameter Screening in Microfluidics Based Hydrodynamic Single-Cell Trapping

Figure 5

Experimental results of cellular trapping. (a) A cell under gravity was noticed to travel in the main channel without being trapped in cellular trapping spots, indicating that cellular loading cannot be realized based on gravity due to the low flow rate. (b) A coming larger cell travelled along the main channel without taking trapping sites while smaller cells were trapped in the trapping positions. These results indicated that the trapping device is sensitive to cell sizes. (c) After optimization, almost all the trapping sites were taken by individual cells. Note that pictures labelled as 1 and 2 ((a1) versus (a2), (b1) versus (b2), and (c1) versus (c2)) represent two images of the same location taken in a time sequence manner.