A Microfluidic Device with Check Valves to Detect Cancer using Caenorhabditis elegans

In this study, we designed a microfluidic device that utilizes the chemotaxis of Caenorhabditis elegans (C.elegans). In previous studies, the device showed an increase in the locomotion speed of C.elegans, but the reverse locomotion of C.elegans in the devices was frequently observed. Therefore, in this study, we aim to improve the movement speed of C.elegans by designing the device to match the wavelength of the meandering motion of the C.elegans and fabricate a channel with a check valve to prevent the reverse locomotion and quickly check the number of individuals that showed an attraction response.In this paper, we also investigated the chemotaxis of C.elegans mutants to urine obtained from a healthy person and cancer patient using the device. As a result, the chemotaxis was observed when the urine of cancer patients was used, indicating the developed device could be used for cancer tests.