Highly accurate deterministic lateral displacement device and its application to purification of fungal spores |
| |
| Authors: | David W Inglis Nick Herman and Graham Vesey |
| |
| Institution: | 1Department of Physics and Engineering, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia 2019;2BTF Pty Ltd., Sydney, Australia 2113;3Regeneus Animal Health, Sydney, Australia 2072 |
| |
| Abstract: | We have designed, built, and evaluated a microfluidic device that uses deterministic lateral displacement for size-based separation. The device achieves almost 100% purity and recovery in continuously sorting two, four, and six micrometer microspheres. We have applied this highly efficient device to the purification of fungal (Aspergillus) spores that are spherical (～4 μm diameter) with a narrow size distribution. Such separation directly from culture using unfiltered A. niger suspensions is difficult due to a high level of debris. The device produces a two to three increase in the ratio of spores to debris as measured by light scatter in a flow cytometer. The procedure is feasible at densities up to 4.4×106 spores∕ml. This is one of the first studies to apply microfluidic techniques to spore separations and has demonstrated that a passive separation system could significantly reduce the amount of debris in a suspension of fungal spores with virtually no loss of spore material. |
| |
| Keywords: | |
|
|
