High-throughput and high-precision flow cytometry based on digital holographic microscopy

Recently, advanced flow cytometry analysis technology based on digital holography has been extensively studied, which can meet various challenges in clinical diagnosis. Especially in liquid biopsy, it has incomparable advantages. Urothelial Holographic Flow Cytometry (HFC) microscopy can provide rich intracellular information by changing the cell’s intrinsic properties with label-free and high throughput. Carcinoma (UC) is the second most common malignancy in men. Urine cytology detection is the most convenient early cancer screening method for UC patients. Here, we developed HFC to identify the cancer cells in urine. Holographic microfluidic imaging was performed to obtain the phase images of different cells in simulation urine, including red blood cells, white blood cells, epithelial cells, and a small number of cancer cells. This study demonstrates that HFC can achieve high accuracy, high throughput, and label-free cancer cell identification in the urine.