Dielectrophoretic Movement of Cell Passing Between Surface Electrodes in Flow Channel

Abstract In this study, cell behavior in a microchannel was tracked for the application of dielectrophoresis to biological cell sorting. A pair of titanium surface electrodes was fabricated inside the microchannel by photolithographic techniques: a triangular electrode with a tip angle of 0.26 rad and a rectangular electrode. A periodic alternating current of square wave with a period of 1 μs was introduced between the electrodes to induce an asymmetric electric field perpendicular to the mainstream direction. The behavior of mouse myoblasts (C2C12: mouse myoblast cell line) was measured in vitro while the suspension was flowing. The relationship between cell shift motion near the electrode and cell shape on the two-dimensional projection plane was investigated. Experimental results showed that cell movement in the direction perpendicular to the mainstream increased with geometries away from the circle in the two-dimensional projection plane. This method can be applied to sort cells according to their degree of shape deviation from a sphere. The dielectrophoretic effect can be applied to sort cells not only by cell size but also by cell deformation.