A clogging rate prediction model based on porous microarray membranes for liquid biopsies

Abstract

This paper presents a filter clogging model for the screening of rare tumour cells by microporous array filter membranes for liquid biopsies. In clinical practice, the ability to achieve high throughput and low clogging rates with microporous array membranes is one of the most important indicators of the reliability of liquid biopsy technology. However, the occurrence of clogging due to various complex factors such as pore size, number of pores and sample concentration makes it difficult to isolate target cells from the membrane. By considering the size and number of the tumour cells and the pore size of the filter membrane, this paper allows us to predict the trend of clogging rate after filter membrane filtration from the change in concentration. The reliability of the model was demonstrated through mathematical validation reasoning and experimental results, thus helping subsequent extensive filtration experiments on liquid biopsies to select more appropriate blood dilution concentrations for sample pre-treatment to ensure that the clogging rate is within a reasonable range, and ultimately improving the accuracy of capturing tumour markers and liquid biopsies.