Temperature-tunable micropillars enable programmable sorting of particles and cells

edited by Gaby Clark , reviewed by Robert Egan

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Add as preferred source Visual Abstract. Thermo-responsive pillars spatially program the operating separation profile along a DLD array. Shifting the temperature window enables sequential particle separation, reconfigurable grouping, and tumor cell isolation from diluted whole blood. Credit: Lab on a Chip (2026). DOI: 10.1039/d6lc00402d A programmable microfluidic device developed at the Institute of Science Tokyo, Japan, combines deterministic lateral displacement, a microfluidic technique used to separate particles according to size, with temperature-responsive polymer micropillars to dynamically change separation conditions along a single channel. Using this device, researchers successfully separated multiple particle populations. Additionally, they efficiently isolated viable cancer cells, white blood cells and red blood cells from diluted whole blood.