Cell Sorter

We are interested in sorting 10-1000 cells post-irradiation to separate irradiated from non-irradiated cells in a bystander study. An example experiment could include a co-culture of GFP tagged and non-tagged cells, where only the tagged cells are irradiated. We are interested in separating the two types of cells. Flow cytometry is impractical with such few cells, and micropipette manipulation is cumbersome.

Microfluidic cell sorting provides the appropriate throughput to match the microbeam. Cells flow from an inlet reservoir (B) to outlet reservoirs (A) based on gravity. Off-chip solenoid valves (D) are used to direct the flow of cells into one of two output reservoirs. Currently, the device is user operated with a pushbutton controller. Future work will introduce computer automated detection and valve operation.