AC electrokinetics based capture of yeast cells from ultra-fast through-flow for sensitive detection

• Published in: Micro & nano letters Vol. 12; no. 11; pp. 901 - 906
• Main Authors: Yuan, Quan, Islam, Nazmul, Wu, Jie
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Stevenage The Institution of Engineering and Technology 01.11.2017; John Wiley & Sons, Inc
• Subjects: AC electrokinetics; ACEK; Alternating current; bioMEMS; bioparticles; Capture effect; cellular biophysics; electrokinetic effects; Electrokinetics; Fluid flow; lab‐on‐a‐chip systems; microfluidics; microorganisms; Microparticles; Portable equipment; Special Issue: Selected Papers from The 12th Annual IEEE International Conference on Nano/Micro Engineered and Molecular Systems (IEEE-NEMS 2017); Trapping; ultrafast through‐flow; Yeast; yeast cell trapping; AC electrokinetics; cellular biophysics; microorganisms; ultrafast through-flow; ACEK; lab-on-a-chip systems; bioMEMS; yeast cell trapping; electrokinetic effects; microfluidics; bioparticles
• ISSN: 1750-0443; 1750-0443
• DOI: 10.1049/mnl.2017.0424

This work presents a three-dimensional multi-level microfluidic device that enables yeast cell trapping via alternating current (AC) electrokinetics (ACEK) from a rapid through-flow of sample fluids. ACEK is a versatile technique to control and manipulate cells and microparticles at the micro/nano-scale. Here the trapping device works by applying an AC signal over a pair of electrode across a flow-through channel to capture bioparticles from an ultra-fast through-flow. The particle capture effect by ACEK was experimentally studied by measuring the cell densities at the inlet and outlet of the micro-channel. Both symmetric AC signal and DC biased AC signal were used to achieve cell trapping. It is found that DC biased ACEK effect is highly capable of capturing cells from a rapid through-flow. A trapping efficiency of 56.8% has been obtained from an ultra-fast external flow with its average velocity at 4.44 mm/s. The merits of ACEK include low-voltage electrical operation, which is suitable for portable lab-on-a-chip systems. These devices offer numerous benefits for biological applications such as medical diagnostics, detection, drug screening, and particle trapping.