Patent ID: 8771933

Claim:
A method of sorting a fluid mixture comprising a plurality of cells, said method comprising the steps of: a) loading the fluid mixture comprising a plurality of deformable and non-deformable cells in a microfluidic cell sorter comprising: i. a first substrate comprising plurality of parallel trenches, arranged at intervals, the trenches each have a contour of a pair of walls and a bottom; ii. a second substrate positioned parallel to said first substrate, such that a spacing is formed in the form of a plurality of shallow regions or slits between said first and said second substrates to allow deformable cells to pass through one trench to another, and wherein a supporting structure holds said second substrate suspended over said first substrate; iii. a sample inlet to said sorter; iv. a sample outlet from said sorter; b) applying a force field diagonally with respect to the length of said trenches, whereby applying said force field allows diagonal fluid flow with respect to the shallow regions or slits for separation of said plurality of cells, wherein said deformable cells deform while crossing from one trench to another through said shallow regions or slits, and said non-deformable cells slide along said shallow regions or slits in a direction parallel to said trenches resulting in a continuous sorting of said deformable and non-deformable cells, and ensuring that said spacing is smaller than the smallest dimension of the cells; and c) collecting separated cells obtained in (b) from said sample outlet.