Apparatus and method for label-free analysis of rare cells from bodily fluids

A method for the label-free analysis of cells comprising:

• flowing a heterogeneous population of cells within a microfluidic device, the microfluidic device comprising an inlet coupled to a pumping device and further coupled to a plurality of microfluidic channels, each microfluidic channel having along a length thereof a plurality of expansion regions;
• trapping within the plurality of expansion regions a subpopulation of cells from the heterogeneous population of cells in response to flow of the fluid sample within the microfluidic channels;
• releasing the trapped subpopulation of cells from the plurality of expansion regions;
• and
• analyzing the trapped subpopulation of cells, wherein analyzing comprises automatically performing at least one of counting cells, measuring cell size, and measuring cell morphology.

A method of characterizing the health of a subject from a fluid sample comprising:

• flowing the fluid sample containing a heterogeneous population of cells within a microfluidic device, the microfluidic device comprising an inlet coupled to a pumping device and further coupled to a plurality of microfluidic channels, each microfluidic channel having along a length thereof a plurality of expansion regions;
• trapping within the plurality of expansion regions a subpopulation of cells from the heterogeneous population of cells in response to flow of the fluid sample within the microfluidic channels;
• releasing the trapped subpopulation of cells from the plurality of expansion regions;
• automatically counting the released subpopulation of cells using a counting device;
• generating a characterization of the health of the subject based at least in part on the count of the subpopulation of cells, wherein the health of the subject is characterized as unhealthy when the count exceeds a threshold value.