A novel lab-on-a-chip microsystem with ITO electrodes for effective electroporation in electrochemotherapy studies

We describe a novel lab-on-a-chip microsystem for cells electroporation, which can be used in studies comparing the effectiveness of two anti-cancer procedures. Our device in which we can simultaneously test the effect of a drug and electrically stimulate cells can be used to assess the effectiveness of chemo- and electrochemotherapy. The microsystem comprised two pairs of indium tin oxide electrodes that were stacked parallel to the culture microchambers. It enables the observation and performance of tests on adherent cells at the same time for 4 different test samples in 6 repetitions (control, chemotherapy, electrochemotherapy, influence of electric field). This provides the required number of repetitions for biological tests and enables statistical evaluation of the results. We paid special attention to the selection of the appropriate design of the electrodes and their placement at the appropriate distance from the microchambers. In this way, in each of the 24 microchambers in the microsystem, homogenous electric field conditions are ensured. Numerical simulations were carried out to determine the distribution of the electric field in the area of the culture microchamber to select the most homogenous conditions, then the results were verified in tests on human cells. Electroporation in the designed microsystem was characterized by high efficiency, while maintaining a high viability of the cells. To our knowledge, it is one of the first microfluidic system with ITO electrodes dedicated for electrochemotherapy, system can be used in studies evaluating the effectiveness of therapeutic procedure in which chemotherapeutic drug and the electric field is used.