Method for separation of nucleated fetal erythrocytes from maternal blood samples

摘要

A charge-flow separation apparatus (CFS) and method for enriching rare cell populations, particularly fetal cells, from a whole blood sample by separating the rare cell fractions from whole according to the relative charge density and/or the relative binding affinity for a leukocyte depletion solid phase matrix. The enrichment method may be operated stand alone, or as a pre- or post-processing step in conjunction with a charge-flow separation method.