Department of Power Mechanical Engineering, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu, Taiwan 30013.
Lab Chip. 2019 Feb 12;19(4):618-625. doi: 10.1039/c8lc01072b.
Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) are one of the promising cancer biomarkers whose concentrations are measured not only in the initial diagnostic stages, but also as treatment progresses. However, the existing methods for CTC detection are relatively time-consuming and labor-intensive. In this study, a new microfluidic platform integrated with field-effect transistors (FETs) and chambers for the trapping of CTCs was developed. This novel design could not only trap CTCs from whole blood samples, but also enumerate them via FET sensing of CTC-specific aptamer-CTC complexes. The FET output signal was experimentally found to increase with the increasing number of captured CTCs. More importantly, the enumeration of spiked CTCs in blood samples could be achieved in accordance with the signals measured on the FET devices. We therefore believe that this automated system could be a useful tool for enumeration of CTCs.
循环肿瘤细胞（CTCs）是一种很有前途的癌症生物标志物，其浓度不仅在初始诊断阶段进行测量，而且在治疗过程中也进行测量。然而，现有的 CTC 检测方法相对耗时且费力。在这项研究中，开发了一种新的微流控平台，该平台集成了场效应晶体管（FET）和用于捕获 CTC 的腔室。这种新颖的设计不仅可以从全血样本中捕获 CTC，还可以通过 FET 对 CTC 特异性适体-CTC 复合物的感测来对其进行计数。实验发现，FET 的输出信号随捕获的 CTC 数量的增加而增加。更重要的是，根据在 FET 器件上测量的信号，可以实现对血液样本中添加的 CTC 的计数。因此，我们认为这个自动化系统可能是一种有用的 CTC 计数工具。
