Izmir Biomedicine and Genome Center, Balcova, Izmir 35340, Turkey.
Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Izmir University of Economics, Balcova, Izmir 35330, Turkey.
Anal Methods. 2023 May 11;15(18):2244-2252. doi: 10.1039/d3ay00344b.
Cell-counting is critical for a wide range of applications, , life sciences, medicine, or pharmacology. Hemocytometry is a classical method that requires manual counting of cells under a microscope. This methodology is low-cost but manual counting is slow, and the test accuracy is limited by the operator experience. Accuracy and throughput of such application could be improved with the use of automated cell-counting devices. Possessing the ability of recording and processing cell images, devices employing these technologies could dramatically improve the accuracy of the counting results. However, accuracy of these devices still requires further improvement as the counting results rely only on 100-200 cells. Furthermore, the test cost of these devices increases due to the need for a counting chamber or consumables compatible with their hardware settings. Herein, in order to address these drawbacks, we introduced an optofluidic cell-counting platform that could scan more than 2000 cells, which dramatically improves the test accuracy. Our technology could yield an error rate below 1% for cell viability, and below 5% for cell concentration. The platform could deliver the count results within only ∼1 minute, including sample loading, autofocusing, recording images, and image processing. The presented platform also benefits from a built-in fluidic component that eliminates the need for an external counting chamber, and allows fully automated sample loading and self-cleaning modality compatible with any solutions that are typically used for cell-counting tests. Providing an easy-to-use and rapid feature from sample loading to image analyses, our optofluidic platform could be a critical asset for accurate and low cost cell-counting applications.
细胞计数在广泛的应用中至关重要，包括生命科学、医学和药理学。血球计数法是一种经典的方法，需要在显微镜下手动计数细胞。这种方法成本低，但手动计数速度慢，并且测试的准确性受到操作人员经验的限制。使用自动化细胞计数设备可以提高这种应用的准确性和通量。具有记录和处理细胞图像的能力，采用这些技术的设备可以显著提高计数结果的准确性。然而，这些设备的准确性仍需要进一步提高，因为计数结果仅依赖于 100-200 个细胞。此外，由于需要与硬件设置兼容的计数室或耗材，这些设备的测试成本增加。在此，为了解决这些缺点，我们引入了一种光流细胞计数平台，可以扫描超过 2000 个细胞，从而显著提高了测试的准确性。我们的技术可以使细胞活力的误差率低于 1%，细胞浓度的误差率低于 5%。该平台仅需约 1 分钟即可提供计数结果，包括样品加载、自动对焦、记录图像和图像处理。所提出的平台还受益于内置的流体组件，无需外部计数室，并且允许完全自动化的样品加载和自我清洁模式，兼容通常用于细胞计数测试的任何解决方案。从样品加载到图像分析提供易于使用和快速的功能，我们的光流细胞计数平台可以成为准确且低成本细胞计数应用的重要资产。
