Patent ID: 7157274

Claim:
A method of isolating a subpopulation of cells from a cell population using a microfluidic cell sorting device comprising; identifying cells from a population in a mixture that have a desired phenotype; and isolating said cells from cells that do not have the desired phenotype using a microfluidic cell sorting device, wherein the step of isolating said cells comprises the steps of: conveying the mixture including cells having the desired phenotype and cells that do not have the desired phenotype through a sorting channel of the microfluidic cell sorting device, using an actuator in the microfluidic cell sorting device to apply a pressure pulse to a cell having the desired phenotype to deflect the cell having the desired phenotype into a first outlet of the sorting channel while cells not having the desired phenotype flow into a second outlet of the sorting channel, and absorbing the pressure pulse in the sorting channel using a buffer.