Numerical simulation of dielectrophoretic separation of live/dead cells using a three-dimensional nonuniform AC electric field in micro-fabricated devices.

Background: The analysis of cell separation has many important biological and medical applications. Dielectrophoresis (DEP) is one of the most effective and widely used techniques for separating and identifying biological species.

Objective: In the present study, a DEP flow channel, a device that exploits the differences in the dielectric properties of cells in cell separation, was numerically simulated and its cell-separation performance examined.

Methods: The samples of cells used in the simulation were modeled as human leukocyte (B cell) live and dead cells. The cell-separation analysis was carried out for a flow channel equipped with a planar electrode on the channel's top face and a pair of interdigitated counter electrodes on the bottom. This yielded a three-dimensional (3D) nonuniform AC electric field in the entire space of the flow channel.

Results: To investigate the optimal separation conditions for mixtures of live and dead cells, the strength of the applied electric field was varied. With appropriately selected conditions, the device was predicted to be very effective at separating dead cells from live cells.

Conclusions: The major advantage of the proposed method is that a large volume of sample can be processed rapidly because of a large spacing of the channel height.