Simple New Device For Capturing Circulating Tumor Cells Needs No Microfluidics, Worcester Polytechnic Institute Study

Scientists at Worcester Polytechnic Institute are reporting in journal Nanotechnology on a new way of trapping circulating tumor cells that doesn’t rely on microfluidic techniques common in previously developed devices. Because it is arguably a simpler approach that relies more on simple mechanics, the device is cheap and works impressively well.

It consists of a series of tiny wells the bottoms of which have antibodies held down by carbon nanotubes. Each well can have different antibodies that grab onto different cancer cell types, and when a matching circulating tumor cell binds to an antibody it gets held down in the pit of the well. To detect that cells are actually being grabbed by the antibodies, a simple electrode setup is used that detects small changes in the conductivity of the bottom of the sample.

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