High-throughput separation of cells by dielectrophoresis enhanced with 3D gradient AC electric field

Abstract

We propose a novel, high-performance dielectrophoretic (DEP) cell-separation flow chamber with a parallel-plate channel geometry. The flow chamber, consisting of a planar electrode on the top and an interdigitated-pair electrode array at the bottom, was developed to facilitate the separation of cells by creating a nonuniform AC electric field throughout the volume of the flow chamber. The operation and performance of the device were evaluated using live and dead human epithermal breast (MCF10A) cells. The separation dynamics of the cell suspension in the flow chamber was also investigated by numerically simulating the trajectories of individual cells. A theoretical model to describe the dynamic cell behavior under the action of DEP, including dipole-dipole interparticle, viscous, and gravitational forces, was developed. The results demonstrated that the live cells traveling through the flow chamber congregated into sites where the electric field gradient was minimal, in the middle of the flow stream slightly above the centerlines of the grounded electrodes at the bottom. Meanwhile, the dead cells were trapped on the edges of the high-voltage electrodes at the bottom. Cells were thus successfully separated with a remarkably high separation ratio (∼98%) at the appropriately tuned field frequency and applied voltage. The numerically predicted behavior and spatial distribution of the cells during separation also showed good agreement with those observed experimentally.

Recent advances in dielectrophoresis‐based cell viability assessment

“…Viability assessment of some mammalian cells like human B cells , human sperm , chondrocytes from steers , Chinese hamster ovary cells , human epithermal breast cells , and human stromal cells were also investigated with DEP.…”

“…(B) Illustration of human epithermal breast cells separated by planar electrode and interdigitated‐pair electrode array. Adapted with permission from , © 2017 AIP Publishing LLC. (C) Human stromal cell separated by SAW‐DEP.…”

“…5B) for viable/non‐viable cell separation was employed by Tada et al. to assess the viability of human epithermal breast cells in 40 mS/m mannitol solution. ITO interdigitated electrodes were deposited on the substrate of the separation chamber, whose height (0.5 mm) was much larger than that of other DEP devices.…”

High-Sensitivity in Dielectrophoresis Separations

“…In [44]. Top-bottom electrode configurations generate gradients throughout channel depth, overcoming the challenge faced by planar configurations whose gradients do not reach sufficiently far in to the device to affect all particles.…”

Sequential Cell-Processing System by Integrating Hydrodynamic Purification and Dielectrophoretic Trapping for Analyses of Suspended Cancer Cells

“…In particular, various studies regarding the manipulation of mammalian cells have been performed using DEP. These studies involve the isolation and separation [1][2][3][4][5][6], sorting [7][8][9], and trapping [10][11][12] of cells inside microfluidic devices. We also developed a microfluidic device employing a microwell array to trap single rare cells [13,14].…”