Vertical Microfluidic Trapping System for Capturing and Simultaneous Electrochemical Detection of Cells

Area of Science:

• Bioanalytical Chemistry
• Microfluidics
• Cell Biology
• Biosensing

Background:

• Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) is a label-free technique for cell characterization.
• Microfluidic systems offer precise control over cellular microenvironments and enable real-time measurements.
• Integrating EIS with microfluidics enhances cell monitoring capabilities.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate a microfluidic chip integrated with an electrode array for EIS measurements.
• To enable label-free, real-time monitoring of individual cells and cell populations.
• To correlate EIS data with optical observations for comprehensive cell analysis.

Main Methods:

• Integration of an electrode array into a multichannel microfluidic chip for cell trapping.
• Design of a custom printed circuit board (PCB) for EIS measurements and channel selection.
• Parallel EIS and optical measurements for simultaneous data acquisition.
• Application of the system to yeast cells for validation.

Main Results:

• Successful integration of EIS measurement capabilities into a microfluidic platform.
• Demonstration of real-time monitoring of channel filling with cell suspensions.
• Ability to differentiate cell numbers based on EIS spectra recorded from individual channels.
• Correlation of impedance data with optical screening of trapped cells.

Conclusions:

• The developed microfluidic-EIS system provides a powerful tool for label-free cell characterization.
• The system enables precise monitoring of cell behavior, proliferation, and viability.
• This approach facilitates the comparison of electrochemical and optical data for enhanced biological insights.