An interdisciplinary team of researchers has developed a microfluidics platform that uses electrophysiological signatures to sort living cells by their functionality. Because this method does not use exogenous labels, the purified cells are compatible with clinical translation. This includes a range of electrically-excitable cells, such as cardiomyocytes, neurons, and smooth muscle cells. This technology represents a new approach to cell sorting that does not rely on physical markers or protein expression profile. The platform is aimed at generating highly-pure populations of electrically active cells from heterogeneous stem cell progeny which is particular useful for regenerative medicine and tissue engineering, with additional applications in drug screening and basic research.Stage of Research The inventors have built a prototype device and used it to purify induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) cardiomyocytes from undifferentiated iPSC clusters. [ - ]

An interdisciplinary team of researchers has developed a microfluidics platform that uses... [ + ]