Optofluidic Flow Cytometer with In-Plane Spherical Mirror for Signal Enhancement

Statistical analysis of the properties of single microparticles, such as cells, bacteria or plastic slivers, has attracted increasing interest in recent years. In this regard, field flow cytometry is considered the gold standard technique, but commercially available instruments are bulky, expensive,...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) Switzerland), 2023-11, Vol.23 (22), p.9191
Main Authors: Zorzi, Filippo, Bonfadini, Silvio, Aloisio, Ludovico, Moschetta, Matteo, Storti, Filippo, Simoni, Francesco, Lanzani, Guglielmo, Criante, Luigino
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Automation
Bacteria
Equipment and supplies
Escherichia coli
Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid
femtosecond laser microfabrication
Fiber optics
FLICE
flow cytometry
Fluorescence
Lab on a Chip
Laboratories
Light
Morphology
Optical properties
Optics
optofluidic particles detection
Plastic pollution
Process controls
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Summary:Statistical analysis of the properties of single microparticles, such as cells, bacteria or plastic slivers, has attracted increasing interest in recent years. In this regard, field flow cytometry is considered the gold standard technique, but commercially available instruments are bulky, expensive, and not suitable for use in point-of-care (PoC) testing. Microfluidic flow cytometers, on the other hand, are small, cheap and can be used for on-site analyses. However, in order to detect small particles, they require complex geometries and the aid of external optical components. To overcome these limitations, here, we present an opto-fluidic flow cytometer with an integrated 3D in-plane spherical mirror for enhanced optical signal collection. As a result, the signal-to-noise ratio is increased by a factor of six, enabling the detection of particle sizes down to 1.5 µm. The proposed optofluidic detection scheme enables the simultaneous collection of particle fluorescence and scattering using a single optical fiber, which is crucial to easily distinguishing particle populations with different optical properties. The devices have been fully characterized using fluorescent polystyrene beads of different sizes. As a proof of concept for potential real-world applications, signals from fluorescent HEK cells and Escherichia coli bacteria were analyzed.
ISSN:1424-8220
1424-8220
DOI:10.3390/s23229191