Development of a microdevice for metastatic cancer diagnosis

Abstract

Today, cancer is the most threaten disease in human life. Cancer is hard to cure perfectly because of the metastasis which requires continuous therapy and monitoring. It has great expense to monitor the cancer. Among the many monitoring methods, the blood collection method is the most economical manner. However, it has many problems such as infection and pain from a conventional needle. On the other hand, a microneedle (MN) technology, which has many breakthroughs of problem from conventional needle, has been researched in drug delivery area. With MN’s advantages, the MN has been spotlighted as not only a drug delivery tool but also a detection device for biomarkers. However, a MN device for monitoring metastatic cancer has not been researched yet. In this paper, we proposed a MN device for metastatic cancer diagnosis which can be mounted on microchamber device. MN tips were treated by specific antibodies for capturing target antigen. From the results, the MN detection device can detect the target biomolecules with nano-level concentration which is usable comparing with concentration of metastatic cancer biomarkers. Next, we researched a capture device for a circulating tumor cell (CTC) with size separation. For the precise assay, the capture device selected size separation method without any chemical treatment to CTCs. To prove the function of the device, PS beads with different size were separated in the round-shaped sorter. MCF-7 cell line which mimics the CTC was also captured in the device.