Title:  Magnetophoretic Flow Cytometry for Quantitative Analysis of Cell Surface Markers

Committee: 

Dr. Sarioglu, Advisor     

Dr. Frazier, Chair

Dr. Degertekin

Abstract: The objective of the proposed research is to develop and characterize a micro-flow cytometer based on the physical manipulation of the sample under a magnetic force field, and to create a new, portable platform that is amenable to integration with sample preparation and ultimately suitable for point-of-care testing in situations where the conventional instruments are inaccessible. Membrane antigens control cell function by regulating biochemical interactions and hence are routinely used as diagnostic and prognostic targets in biomedicine. Fluorescent labeling and subsequent optical interrogation of cell membrane antigens, while highly effective, limit expression profiling to centralized facilities that can afford and operate complex instrumentation. In this thesis, we introduce a cytometry technique that computes surface expression of immunomagnetically labeled cells by electrically tracking their trajectory under a magnetic field gradient on a microfluidic chip. In addition to enabling the creation of a frugal cytometry platform, this immunomagnetic cell manipulation-based measurement approach allows direct expression profiling of target subpopulations from non-purified samples such as peripheral blood. Quantitative measurements of biochemical and biophysical cell characteristics with a disposable cytometer have the potential to impact point-of-care testing of clinical samples particularly in resource limited settings.