Micro-Electrical Impedance Spectroscopy and Identification of Patient-Derived, Dissociated Tumor Cells

Fine needle aspirate sampling of tumors requires acquisition of sufficient cells to complete a diagnosis. Aspirates through such fine needles are typically composed of small cell clusters in suspension, making them readily amenable to microfluidic analysis. Here we show a microfluidic device with integrated electrodes capable of interrogating and identifying cellular components in a patient-derived sample of dissociated tumor cells using micro-electrical impedance spectroscopy ( μ EIS). We show that the μ EIS system can distinguish dissociated tumor cells in a sample consisting of red blood cell (RBCs) and peripheral blood mononucleated cells (PBMCs). Our μ EIS system can also distinguish dissociated tumor cells from normal cells and we show results for five major cancer types, specifically, lung, thyroid, breast, ovarian, and kidney cancer. Moreover, our μ EIS system can make these distinctions in a label-free manner, thereby opening the possibility of integration into standard clinical workflows at the point of care.