Rapid-on-chip determination of dielectric properties of biological cells using imaging techniques in a dielectrophoresis dot microsystem

Dielectrophoresis is a technique whereby polarisable particles are manipulated by non-uniform alternating electric fields. A specific application of this technique is deducing the dielectric properties of cells from analysis of the dielectrophoretic spectrum of that particular cell population. We have developed a new microelectrode geometry consisting of two parallel electrode planes, one of which is patterned with arrays of circular apertures or 'dots'. The radial symmetry of the dots means that the polarisability of the particles within the dot can be directly related to change shifts in light transmission through the dot, and quantified from analysis of digital images. We have validated our system using well-characterised cell types and found a high degree of agreement to published data. Furthermore, we have observed that at high particle concentrations, electrostatic inter-particle repulsion causes spontaneous, rapid particle re-dispersion over the dot volume upon removal of an applied electric field. This allows the automated acquisition of a spectrum of 26 data points in approximately 15 min.