Separation of platelets from other blood cells in continuous-flow by dielectrophoresis field-flow-fractionation.

We present a microfluidic device capable of separating platelets from other blood cells in continuous flow using dielectrophoresis field-flow-fractionation. The use of hydrodynamic focusing in combination with the application of a dielectrophoretic force allows the separation of platelets from red blood cells due to their size difference. The theoretical cell trajectory has been calculated by numerical simulations of the electrical field and flow speed, and is in agreement with the experimental results. The proposed device uses the so-called "liquid electrodes" design and can be used with low applied voltages, as low as 10 V(pp). The obtained separation is very efficient, the device being able to achieve a very high purity of platelets of 98.8% with less than 2% cell loss. Its low-voltage operation makes it particularly suitable for point-of-care applications. It could further be used for the separation of other cell types based on their size difference, as well as in combination with other sorting techniques to separate multiple cell populations from each other.