Background
For years, flow cytometry has been used in a wide variety of biomedical research fields such as immunology and cancer biology. It has also become the method of choice for many clinical diagnostics. For example, CD4+ T lymphocyte flow cytometry counting is routinely conducted for diagnosing HIV. However, the full potential of flow cytometry as a tool of research and clinical diagnostics has yet to be realized. Its high cost, mechanical complexity, bulky size, and need for highly trained personnel have limited its application. Great efforts have gone into transforming flow cytometry systems into portable and mass-producible platforms, thus making this technology more accessible to the public health care and biomedical research sectors.

Invention Description
The disclosed invention applies principles of microfluidics to flow cytometry, allowing for the flexible and precise manipulation of microparticles. The disclosed device is produced using soft lithography, enabling cost-effective mass production. This advance was made possible through the application of microfluidic drifting, a method of 3D hydrodynamic focusing that reduces mechanical complexity. Thus this device involves only one device layer and one photolithography mask; the simplified design makes it ideal for mass-producible flow cytometry devices.

File Number: 3584