Dielectrophoretic Movement of Cell around Surface Electrodes in Flow Channel

Yusuke Takahashi, Shigehiro Hashimoto, Manabu Watanabe

A micro flow channel with the surface electrodes has been designed to detect the dielectrophoretic movement of a biological cell. The surface electrodes of titanium (thickness of 200 nm) were formed along the edges of the flow channel by the photolithography technique. At the one of the edges, the tip angle of the triangle shape of the surface electrode is 0.26 rad. The other flat edge is the reference electrode. The rectangular periodic electrical stimulation (0.01 ms, or 0.001 ms of period) was applied between the surface electrodes. The suspension of C2C12 (mouse myoblast cell line originated with cross-striated muscle of C3H mouse) was introduced into the flow channel, and the flow rate was controlled by the pressure head between the inlet port and the outlet port. The experiment shows that the velocity of the cell is accelerated along the electric field during the flow through the flow channel.

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