Low-cost multi-core inertial microfluidic centrifuge for high-throughput cell concentration

We developed a low-cost multi-core inertial microfluidic centrifuge (IM-centrifuge) to achieve a continuous-flow cell/particle concentration at a throughput of up to 20 mL/min. To lower the cost of our IM-centrifuge, we clamped a disposable multilayer film-based inertial microfluidic (MFIM) chip with two reusable plastic housings. The key MFIM chip was fabricated in low-cost materials by stacking different polymer-film channel layers and double-sided tape. To increase processing throughput, multiplexing spiral inertial microfluidic channels were integrated within an all-in-one MFIM chip, and a novel sample distribution strategy was employed to equally distribute the sample into each channel layer. Then, we characterized the focusing performance in the MFIM chip over a wide flow-rate range. The experimental results showed that our IM-centrifuge was able to focus various-sized particles/cells to achieve volume reduction. The sample distribution strategy also effectively ensured identical focusing and concentration performances in different cores. Finally, our IM-centrifuge was successfully applied to concentrate microalgae cells with irregular shapes and highly polydisperse sizes. Thus, our IM-centrifuge holds the potential to be employed as a low-cost, high-throughput centrifuge for disposable use in low-resource settings.