Learn how an Artemis Health test will provide a non-invasive diagnostic solution for use in early pregnancy.
Artemis Health’s Microfluidic Technology
Artemis Health uses a microfluidic, sized-based sorting technique to separate the fetal cells in maternal blood from the hydrodynamically smaller maternal red blood cells and platelets. This de-bulking step reduces the unwanted cells in the mother’s blood sample by over 99.99%. The advantage of this technique over other sized-based sorting methods (e.g., filters) is that it is inherently a non-clogging and gentle procedure.
Using our proprietary microfluidic chip, a blood stream and an adjacent buffer stream are introduced at the top of a chamber having a particular geometry of staggered posts. This geometry determines a critical diameter (Dc). Cells with effective hydrodynamic diameters larger than Dc will get bumped into the buffer stream, while cells smaller than Dc stay on the blood-stream side of the chamber. At the bottom of the chamber, the buffer stream is collected, yielding a highly fetal-cell-enriched sample of maternal blood.
