New approach to sorting cells
Microfluidic devices hold potential to rapidly analyze cells for applications in medicine and basic research. Researchers have devised systems that can distinguish cells based on their size, deformability, and electrical properties, among other characteristics. A team of MIT researchers has now developed a new way to sort cells, based on their acoustic properties — that is, how they are affected by sound waves, which depends on how dense and compressible the cells are. These acoustic properties rely on cell content and structure, and are independent of the cells’ size, so this method can be used to separate cell types of similar size. Another advantage to this approach is that it does not require altering the cells in any way with chemical labels. This technique could potentially be used to develop a handheld device that would make it easier and faster to do a test known as a complete blood count (CBC). This test,...