Division of Solid State Physics, nmC@LU, Lund University, PO Box 118, S-221 00 Lund, Sweden.
Lab Chip. 2011 Apr 7;11(7):1326-32. doi: 10.1039/c0lc00560f. Epub 2011 Feb 18.
We present the use of a simple microfluidic technique to separate living parasites from human blood. Parasitic trypanosomatids cause a range of human and animal diseases. African trypanosomes, responsible for human African trypanosomiasis (sleeping sickness), live free in the blood and other tissue fluids. Diagnosis relies on detection and due to their often low numbers against an overwhelming background of predominantly red blood cells it is crucial to separate the parasites from the blood. By modifying the method of deterministic lateral displacement, confining parasites and red blood cells in channels of optimized depth which accentuates morphological differences, we were able to achieve separation thus offering a potential route to diagnostics.
我们展示了一种简单的微流控技术，用于从人体血液中分离活寄生虫。寄生原生动物会引起一系列人类和动物疾病。引起人类非洲锥虫病（昏睡病）的非洲锥虫在血液和其他组织液中自由生活。诊断依赖于检测，由于其数量通常较低，而主要的红细胞背景则压倒性地存在，因此将寄生虫与血液分离至关重要。通过修改确定性侧向位移的方法，将寄生虫和红细胞限制在优化深度的通道中，突出形态差异，我们能够实现分离，从而为诊断提供了一种潜在途径。
