Fig. 1.

Workflow of the NanoVelcro CTC-digital assay for detecting the EGFR T790M mutation. The schematic diagram of the components of the NanoVelcro Chips demonstrates that the polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS)-based chaotic mixer and the channels of the silicon nanowire chip create a microfluidic channel which optimizes cellular interactions with the chip surface. In the cutout, the nanowire substrate can be seen functionalized with streptavidin, used for the enrichment of biotinylated capture antibody (i.e., anti-epithelial cell adhesion molecule, EpCAM) labeled CTCs. Captured CTCs are then lysed in the device to release CTC-derived RNA for downstream analysis via RT-ddPCR. We utilize this workflow to quantify T790M transcripts in NSCLC CTCs from peripheral arterial and venous blood samples.