Fig 1.
SS profiles of the fluid flows.
SS profiles of the fluid flow within the channels with an inflow rate of 30 ml/min.
Table 1.
Wall Shear stress within three different ramifications.
Fig 2.
PDMS device fabrication process.
Schematic representation of the fabrication process of the device.
Fig 3.
Pictures showing (a) the 3D fluidic PDMS device with different ramifications of channels, inlets/outlets are permanently connected to tubes, (b) the same channels filled with a blue dye to demonstrate absence of leakage and (c) the cross-section of a PDMS channel.
Fig 4.
(a) Cell viability measured by live/dead staining of cells replated after 6 hours of circulation (b) Quantitative analysis of the images. Values are reported as mean ± s.d., N = 4. Student's t-test. ***P < 0.001.
Fig 5.
Fluid-dynamic simulation of CTC clusters disaggregation process under fluid flow with (A) one and (B) two clusters circulating. Clusters shape inside the vessel is reported at different time points: t = 0, 0.02, 0.04 and 0.06 s.
Fig 6.
Clusters size reduction at different shear stress levels.
Clusters size reduction after 6 hours of circulation at different shear stress.
Fig 7.
Quantitative analysis of the CTC clusters images.
Values are reported as mean ± s.d., N = 4. Student's t-test. * P<0.05; ***P < 0.001.
Fig 8.
SS induce CTC clusters disaggregation.
Schematic representation of the observed effects of increasing levels of SS on the disaggregation of CTC clusters.