LEUKOCYTE TRAPPING APPARATUS
20230364613 · 2023-11-16
Assignee
Inventors
Cpc classification
B01L2200/0647
PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
International classification
Abstract
A leukocyte trapping apparatus configured so: a chip having protruding parts arranged on a flat part, a blood-containing solution that enters through an inlet port is allowed to pass through the surface of the flat part and through spaces between two adjacent protruding parts in the chip and is discharged through a discharge port; the protruding parts are arranged in layers on the flat part, layer containing a plurality of the protruding parts, and the blood-containing solution that has passed through a layer located on the inlet port side passes through another layer that is adjacent to the layer on the discharge port side; a trapping part and a bypass part are between two adjacent protruding parts in each layer; and the trapping part is on the discharge port side of the bypass part in a specific layer as a portion of another layer adjacent to the specific layer.
Claims
1. A leukocyte trapping apparatus comprising: a chip for passing a blood-containing liquid therethrough and trapping leukocytes contained in the blood-containing liquid, wherein the chip has a flat part and a large number of protruding parts provided thereon, and is configured so that the blood-containing liquid having entered through an inlet passes on a surface of the flat part in the chip, and through spaces each located between a protruding part and another protruding part adjacent thereto and is discharged from an outlet, wherein the protruding parts are provided on the flat part in a layered form, each layer has a plurality of protruding parts, and the protruding parts are configured so that the blood-containing liquid having passed through a layer on an inlet side passes through a layer adjacent thereto on an outlet side, wherein trapping parts and bypass parts are formed in each layer, each of the trapping parts having a width set to 2 to 7.5 .Math.m between a protruding part and another protruding part adjacent thereto, and each of the bypass parts having a width set to 8 to 20 .Math.m therebetween, wherein chamfering is made so that a width between inlet side portions on the inlet side of two protruding parts constituting one trapping part is gradually reduced toward a bottom of the trapping part, and wherein trapping parts are disposed so as to face the outlet side of all or some bypass parts in a specific layer as part of another layer adjacent thereto.
2. The leukocyte trapping apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a width between the specific layer and the another layer adjacent thereto is 8 to 30 .Math.m.
3. The leukocyte trapping apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a ratio of a bypass part width to a trapping part width is more than 1 but not more than 3.
4. The leukocyte trapping apparatus according to claim 1, wherein portions of the protruding parts at their inlet side end faces except the trapping parts extend parallel to a layer direction, and end faces of the protruding parts constituting the bypass parts extend in a direction perpendicular to the layer direction.
Description
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0018]
[0019]
[0020]
[0021]
[0022]
[0023]
[0024]
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[0026]
DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS
[0027] A leukocyte trapping apparatus of the invention is described.
[0028] The leukocyte trapping apparatus of the invention is a leukocyte trapping apparatus including: a chip for passing a blood-containing liquid therethrough and trapping leukocytes contained in the blood-containing liquid, wherein the chip has a flat part and a large number of protruding parts provided thereon, and is configured so that the blood-containing liquid having entered through an inlet passes on a surface of the flat part in the chip, and through spaces each located between a protruding part and another protruding part adjacent thereto and is discharged from an outlet, wherein the protruding parts are provided on the flat part in a layered form, each layer has a plurality of protruding parts, and the protruding parts are configured so that the blood-containing liquid having passed through a layer on an inlet side passes through a layer adjacent thereto on an outlet side, wherein trapping parts and bypass parts are formed in each layer, each of the trapping parts having a width set to 2 to 7.5 .Math.m between a protruding part and another protruding part adjacent thereto, and each of the bypass parts having a width set to 8 to 20 .Math.m therebetween, wherein chamfering is made so that a width between inlet side portions on the inlet side of two protruding parts constituting one trapping part is gradually reduced toward a bottom of the trapping part, and wherein trapping parts are disposed so as to face the outlet side of all or some bypass parts in a specific layer as part of another layer adjacent thereto.
[0029] The leukocyte trapping apparatus of the invention is described with reference to the drawings.
[0030]
[0031] The leukocyte trapping apparatus 1 of the invention illustrated in
[0032] As shown in
[0033] In the leukocyte trapping apparatus 1 of the invention as described above, the blood-containing liquid having entered through the inlet 3 flows toward the outlet 5 by the action of a pump, hydrostatic pressure, electroosmotic flow or the like. During this process, the blood-containing liquid flows on a surface of the flat part 12 in the chip 10, and through spaces each located between a protruding part 14 and another protruding part 14 adjacent thereto, and leukocytes are caught and trapped between specific protruding parts 14.
[0034] The blood-containing liquid is not particularly limited as long as it is a liquid containing human blood. For example, the blood-containing liquid may be a mixture liquid obtained by adding human blood to a phosphate buffer solution, an anticoagulant, a stain solution or the like. Alternatively, the blood-containing liquid may be human blood itself.
[0035] The protruding parts 14 are provided on the flat part 12 in a layered form, as shown in
[0036]
[0037] Each layer contains a plurality of protruding parts 14.
[0038] The blood-containing liquid having entered the leukocyte trapping apparatus 1 of the invention through the inlet 3 flows over the surface of the flat part 12 to first pass through flow paths between the protruding parts 14 in the first layer and then pass through flow paths between the protruding parts 14 in the second layer. The leukocyte trapping apparatus is configured so that the blood-containing liquid flows thereafter in the same manner to pass through flow paths between the protruding parts 14 in the layer P, and then pass through flow paths between the protruding parts 14 in the layer P+1.
[0039] As shown in
[0040] In the example of
[0041] Further, a trapping part 21 is disposed on an outlet side of a bypass part 23 in a specific layer as a part of another layer adjacent thereto. In other words, in the example of
[0042] As illustrated in
[0043] In the example shown in
[0044] In plan views as shown in
[0045] Further, as illustrated in
[0046] The angle of the line formed by chamfering is preferably 30 to 60° with respect to the direction perpendicular to the layer direction (direction from the inlet toward the outlet). In a case where chamfering is not linear but is, for example, spoon-shaped chamfering or round chamfering, the tangent line preferably forms an average angle of 30 to 60°. When this angle is smaller than 30°, leukocytes tend to flow into the bypass parts 23 at a higher rate to lower the trapping efficiency. When this angle is larger than 60°, the possibility that a plurality of leukocytes are trapped in a single trapping part 21 tends to be increased.
[0047] If a trapping part 21 is gradually narrowed toward its bottom, both inlet side portions of two protruding parts constituting the trapping part may be chamfered or only one inlet side portion may be chamfered. When both the inlet side portions are chamfered, the chamfering angle may be the same or different.
[0048] In a case where the protruding parts 14 have a rectangular or approximately rectangular shape, other leukocytes that reached the trapping parts 21 already having fine particles trapped therein move in the layer direction along the end faces of the protruding parts 14 and move from the bypass parts 23 to the adjacent layer on the downstream side, where the leukocytes are easily trapped in the trapping parts 21. Consequently, the inventors have found that the leukocyte trapping efficiency is increased.
[0049] In particular, when as in the case shown in
[0050] In a case where the protruding parts 14 do not have a rectangular or approximately rectangular shape (in the case of a circular shape or an elliptical shape, for example), their outer shape contains R and leukocytes may therefore move along the R instead of moving to the trapping parts 21 in the adjacent layer on the downstream side.
[0051] Each of the trapping parts 21 has a width L.sub.1 of 2 to 7.5 .Math.m, preferably 3 to 6 .Math.m, and more preferably 4 to 5 .Math.m.
[0052] Each of the bypass parts 23 has a width L.sub.2 of 8 to 20 .Math.m, preferably 8.5 to 15 .Math.m, and more preferably 9 to 10 .Math.m.
[0053] Each of the width L.sub.1 and the width L.sub.2 means the shortest distance between one protruding part 14 and its adjacent protruding part 14 in each layer.
[0054] The ratio (L.sub.2/L.sub.1) of the width L.sub.2 of the bypass parts 23 to the width L.sub.1 of the trapping parts 21 is preferably more than 1 but not more than 3, and more preferably 1.5 to 2.5, because in this case, the flow toward the bypass parts 23 is adequately suppressed, thus facilitating leukocyte trapping in the trapping parts.
[0055] The width L.sub.3 between the layer P and the layer P+1 is preferably 8 to 30 .Math.m, and more preferably 9 to 10 .Math.m.
[0056] The width L.sub.3 means the shortest distance between the layer P and the layer P+1.
[0057] The maximum width L.sub.4 of the trapping part 21 at the chamfered portions on the inlet side is preferably 10 to 35 .Math.m and more preferably 15 to 25 .Math.m.
[0058] Each of the protruding parts 14 shown in
[0059] The size and the material of the chip are not particularly limited. The chip may be made of, for example, resins such as silicone rubber, acrylic resin, polycarbonate, cyclic olefin polymer, cyclic olefin copolymer, polystyrene, polyethylene, and polyethylene terephthalate, and an embodiment in which resin is bonded to a substrate of glass or the like is preferable.
EXAMPLES
Preparation of Leukocyte Trapping Apparatus
[0060] Leukocyte trapping apparatuses each having one of six types of chips in which bypass parts and trapping parts had width values shown in Table 1, respectively, were prepared according to the procedure shown below. The width (width L.sub.3 in
[0061] First, a spinner was used to uniformly apply a photosensitive resin (SU-8 3050 manufactured by Nippon Kayaku Co., Ltd.) to a surface of a plate-like silicon wafer.
[0062] Next, the photosensitive resin was irradiated with ultraviolet light through a specific mask.
[0063] Next, the photosensitive resin on the silicon wafer exposed to the ultraviolet light was baked at 95° C.
[0064] Next, areas which were not exposed to the ultraviolet light were removed with a developer (SU-8 Developer manufactured by Nippon Kayaku Co., Ltd.) to fabricate a mold.
[0065] Next, silicone rubber (SILPOT184 manufactured by Dow Corning Corp.) was flowed into the mold.
[0066] Next, the silicone rubber was vulcanized under conditions of 100° C. and 0.5 hours.
[0067] Next, the silicone rubber was peeled off from the silicon wafer to form a chip having flow paths formed therein.
[0068] Next, portions serving as an inlet and an outlet were perforated with punch holes to form a liquid introduction part, thereby fabricating a leukocyte trapping apparatus.
Joining
[0069] A light source (L 12530-01 manufactured by Hamamatsu Photonics K.K.) was used to irradiate both a glass substrate having the flow path-formed chip formed therein with vacuum ultraviolet light for 15 seconds. Then, both irradiated surfaces were bonded together to form a chip.
[0070] The formed chip was observed with a fluorescent microscope and an enlarged photo obtained is shown in
Experiments
[0071] Peripheral blood obtained from an adult male was diluted two-fold with PBS (phosphate buffer solution manufactured by Wako Pure Chemical Industries, Ltd.).
[0072] Next, a 1 .Math.l to 2 .Math.l portion of the diluted blood was dropped into the inlet of the chip and fed by hydrostatic pressure.
[0073] Next, the chip was allowed to stand for 1 hour and then unnecessary blood was removed, and PBS was dropped and fed to thereby remove the other substances than the trapped leukocytes.
[0074] Next, the PBS was removed, and a DNA-binding stain solution (DAPI) was dropped and allowed to stand for 30 minutes.
[0075] Then, in each of the six types of leukocyte trapping apparatuses, the chip was observed with the fluorescent microscope to see whether or not leukocytes were trapped. The results are shown in Table 1. In Table 1, a case where one leukocyte could be seen in at least one trapping part was rated as “Good” and a case where one-leukocyte trapping could not be seen in every trapping part was rated as “Poor.”
[0076] Enlarged photos under darkening and fluorescence which were obtained by observing the chips in Example 1 and Example 2 with the fluorescent microscope are shown in
[0077] On the other hand, in Comparative Examples 1 and 2 in which the widths of the trapping parts and the bypass parts were too large, leukocytes could not be sufficiently trapped.
TABLE-US-00001 Bypass part width (.Math.m) Trapping part width (.Math.m) Trapping result Example 1 10 5 Good Example 2 10 4 Good Example 3 10 7.5 Good Example 4 15 5 Good Comparative Example 1 50 25 Poor Comparative Example 2 40 20 Poor
Comparative Evaluation
[0078] For the purpose of comparing the leukocyte trapping efficiency in the leukocyte trapping apparatus according to the invention with the conventional technique, a leukocyte trapping apparatus according to the invention and a micro flow path apparatus as described in Patent Document 1 which had conventional concave trapping parts were prepared and comparative evaluation experiments were performed. A schematic view of the trapping parts and bypass parts of the micro flow path apparatus are shown in
[0079] Two indexes shown in [Formula 1] and [Formula 2] were adopted as those for evaluating trapping efficiency. [0080] Ratio of trapping parts under single trapping (%) = [Number of trapping parts under single trapping] / [Number of trapping parts within observation range] × 100 ... [Formula 1] [0081] Ratio of singly trapped leukocytes (%) = [Number of singly trapped leukocytes] / [Number of leukocytes present within observation range] × 100 ... [Formula 2]
[0082] The number of trapping parts within observation range represents the number of trapping parts present within the observation range that was set in each of the leukocyte trapping apparatus and the micro flow path apparatus which were to be subjected to comparative evaluation. The number of trapping parts under single trapping represents the number of trapping parts within the observation range each having only one leukocyte trapped therein. The number of singly trapped leukocytes represents the number of leukocytes singly trapped in individual trapping parts within the observation range and is equal to the number of trapping parts under single trapping. The number of leukocytes present within observation range represents the number of all leukocytes present within the observation range, and includes not only leukocytes singly trapped in the trapping parts but also leukocytes in cases where a plurality of leukocytes are trapped in individual trapping parts, and leukocytes present in the flow paths other than the trapping parts.
[0083] As to whether or not a leukocyte is trapped in a trapping part, in a trapping part of the leukocyte trapping apparatus according to the invention shown in
[0084] The reasons for which these indexes were adopted as indexes for evaluating the trapping efficiency are as follows:
[0085] In fluorescent image analysis for DNA damage evaluation which is assumed as a scene where the leukocyte trapping apparatus according to the invention is utilized, in consideration of automatic image analysis with an image processing program or the like, leukocytes singly trapped in individual trapping parts are desirably present within one field of view in the fluorescent microscope or the like used for analysis, in the largest possible number which is at least not less than the number necessary for analysis. Further, in consideration of ease of creation of the image processing program, it is desirable for leukocytes not to remain in the flow paths other than the trapping parts at a point in time when separation and alignment have been completed.
[0086] In other words, in order to evaluate the two desirable properties described above, the two indexes which are the ratio of trapping parts under single trapping (ratio of trapping parts each having only one leukocyte trapped therein to trapping parts within the observation range) and the ratio of singly trapped leukocytes (ratio of leukocytes singly trapped in individual trapping parts to leukocytes trapped within the observation range) were used as the indexes for evaluating the trapping efficiency.
Preparation of Leukocyte Trapping Apparatus and Micro Flow Path Apparatus
[0087] A chip which included a leukocyte trapping apparatus according to the invention was prepared as Example 5 according to the same procedure as in Examples 1 to 4 described above, and a chip which included a micro flow path apparatus having concave trapping parts was prepared as Comparative Example 3 according to the same procedure. Sizes of trapping parts, bypass parts and the like of each chip are shown in Table 2. L.sub.1 in
TABLE-US-00002 Trapping part width (.Math.m) Bypass part width (.Math.m) Distance between layers (.Math.m) Maximum width of trapping part at inlet side portion (.Math.m) Example 5 5 10 10 20 Comparative Example 3 5 20 20 12
Experiments
[0088] Experiments were performed according to the same procedure as in Examples 1 to 4 described above.
[0089] The chips of two types were observed with the fluorescent microscope, and in each observation range containing the same number of trapping parts, the number of trapping parts present within the observation range, the number of leukocytes present within the observation range, and the number of singly trapped leukocytes (number of trapping parts under single trapping) were counted, respectively, to evaluate the trapping efficiency using Formula 1 and Formula 2. The trapping efficiency of each chip is shown in Table 3. The state of leukocytes trapped within the observation range of the chip in the leukocyte trapping apparatus of the invention is shown in
TABLE-US-00003 Number of leukocytes within observation range (A) Number of singly trapped leu kocytes (number of trapping parts under single trapping) (B) Ratio of trapping parts under single trapping (B/N × 100) (%) Ratio of singly trapped leukocytes (B/A × 100) (%) Number of trapping parts (N) Example 5 64 57 95 89 60 Comparative Example 3 45 16 27 36 60
[0090] As shown in Table 3, the experiments for the comparative evaluation revealed that the ratio of trapping parts under single trapping and the ratio of singly trapped leukocytes in Example 5 were higher by 68% and 53%, respectively, compared to those in Comparative Example 3, and allowed to confirm that, in the leukocyte trapping apparatus of the invention, the trapping efficiency of solid components such as leukocytes was extremely high compared to that in the conventional method.
[0091] It is presumed that this difference is caused by the fact that chamfering is made so that the width between the inlet side portions on the inlet side of the two protruding parts constituting the trapping part of the invention is gradually reduced toward the bottom of the trapping part, thereby having the effect of sandwiching a cell pushed toward the bottom of the trapping part from both sides by the action of hydrostatic pressure as compared to the concave structure as in the trapping part in the conventional technique, and detachment of cells once trapped and trapping of plural cells in a single trapping part are less likely to occur.
[0092] This application claims priority based on Japanese Patent Application No. 2020-163378 filed on Sep. 29, 2020, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
TABLE-US-00004 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 leukocyte trapping apparatus of the invention 3 inlet 5 outlet 10 chip 12 flat part 14 protruding part 21 trapping part 23 bypass part