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Updated: Sep 2, 2025

Separating Beads and Cells in Multi-channel Microfluidic Devices Using Dielectrophoresis and Laminar Flow
Published on: February 4, 2011
Dielectrophoretic Traps for Efficient Bead and Cell Trapping and Formation of Aggregates of Controlled Size and
Clémentine Lipp1, Laure Koebel2, Arnaud Bertsch1
1Laboratory of Microsystems LMIS4, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Lausanne, Switzerland.
Abstract:
We present a microfluidic dielectrophoretic-actuated system designed to trap chosen single-cell and form controlled cell aggregates. A novel method is proposed to characterize the efficiency of the dielectrophoretic trapping, considering the flow speed but also the heat generated by the traps as limiting criteria in cell-safe manipulation. Two original designs with different manufacturing processes are experimentally compared. The most efficient design is selected and the cell membrane integrity is monitored by fluorescence imaging to guarantee a safe-cell trapping. Design rules are suggested to adapt the traps to multiple-cells trapping and are experimentally validated as we formed aggregates of controlled size and composition with two different types of cells. We provide hereby a simple manufactured tool allowing the controlled manipulation of particles for the composition of multicellular assemblies.
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