Microfluidic Continuous Modification of Magnetic Nanoparticles for Circulating Tumor Cell Capture and Isolation

Abstract Circulating Tumor Cells (CTCs) enrichment technology refers to medical approaches for capturing and isolating target tumor cells, which has drawn great attention owing to its applications in the clinic such as cancer diagnosis and prognosis. Magnetic nanoparticles have emerged as an important platform for CTCs capture and isolation. However, due to the inert surface nature, the molecular phenotype analysis of CTCs and identification sensitivity remain a huge challenge. Herein, an ultrasound‐activated microfluidic method is presented for rapid basic modification of magnetic nanoparticles, laying the foundation for further covalently binding of functional groups to capture CTCs. In this work, Fe 3 O 4 @SiO 2 nanoparticles obtained from microfluidics are hybridized with folic acid for the capture and isolation of CTCs with folate receptors such as Hela cells. The usage of microfluidic technology to upgrade Fe 3 O 4 nanoparticles provides the possibility for improving the detective efficiency of rare cells associated with malignancies, which sheds new light on future clinical applications.