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Label-free Isolation and Enrichment of Cells Through Contactless Dielectrophoresis

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Sequentially addressable dielectrophoretic array for high-throughput sorting of large-volume biological compartments.

A Isozaki^1,2, Y Nakagawa¹, M H Loo¹

¹Department of Chemistry, Graduate School of Science, University of Tokyo, East Chemistry Building, Room 213, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan.

Science Advances

|June 12, 2020

Summary

Droplet microfluidics enables single-cell analysis but is limited by droplet size. A new sequentially addressable dielectrophoretic array (SADA) sorter achieves high-throughput large-droplet sorting for cell growth studies.

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Area of Science:

Biotechnology
Microfluidics
Cell Biology

Background:

Droplet microfluidics is crucial for single-cell analysis in precision medicine and biotechnology.
A key limitation is the trade-off between droplet volume and sorting throughput, restricting applications to small droplets incompatible with long-term cell culture.

Purpose of the Study:

To overcome the limitations of conventional droplet microfluidics by enabling high-throughput sorting of large droplets.
To develop a novel microfluidic device for enhanced single-cell analysis and long-term cell maintenance.

Main Methods:

Development of a sequentially addressable dielectrophoretic array (SADA) sorter.
Utilizing an on-chip electrode array activated sequentially to apply dielectrophoretic forces on target droplets.
Synchronizing electrode activation with droplet speed and position in a high-speed flow.

Main Results:

Demonstration of large-droplet sorting with approximately 20-fold higher throughput compared to existing methods.
Successful application of the SADA sorter for long-term single-cell analysis of *Saccharomyces cerevisiae* based on growth rate.

Conclusions:

The SADA sorter effectively addresses the droplet volume-throughput trade-off in microfluidics.
This technology enables advanced single-cell studies, including long-term cell maintenance and growth rate analysis, with significantly improved efficiency.