BACKGROUND: Osmotic shock upon the addition and removal of cryoprotectant agent (CPA) is a major source of cell damage during cryopreservation.
Objective: Microfluidic device offers a new platform for CPA loading and unloading. The micro scale dimension makes possible to perform a detailed analysis and controllable removal of CPA with many advantages.
Materials and methods: A microfluidic device was developed for extracting dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) from the sample streamline. The device has two parallel channels separated by a polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) membrane and serves as the stable environment for CPA removal. A diffusion-based simulation model was used to characterize the CPA extraction. To support the experimental design and device optimization we developed analogous scheme to simulate by COMSOL Multiphysics.
Results and concusion: The device can extract cryoprotectant in a mesoscale volume from cells and simplify the post-thaw sample handling. It has sufficient control on loading/unloading of CPAs by controlling the flow rate of cell stream/wash stream solutions via syringe pumps. Compared to other customary devices, this device is easy to fabricate and assemble, with features of high precision, reusability and low cost.