Microfluidic cell separation: applications and challenges in tissue engineering

In tissue engineering, the enrichment of a particular cell type typically precedes in vitro culture on scaffolds. Another separation challenge that has emerged recently in tissue engineering is the need to isolate stem or progenitor cells that are naturally present in certain tissue types and have the ability to differentiate into functional cells. In both contexts, the ability of microfluidic systems to handle small sample volumes and achieve highly selective separation presents an attractive alternative to traditional techniques such as pre-plating, cell straining and sorting with fluorescent or magnetic tags.