Applications of dielectrophoresis in biotechnology

Recent progress in the development of microelectrode structures has led to new techniques for the dielectrophoretic characterization and sorting of cells, microorganisms and other bioparticles using nonuniform AC electric fields. These methods utilize differences in the dielectric polarizabilities of cells for their effectiveness, and factors controlling such properties include the conductivity and permittivity of membranes and any cell walls, electrical double layers associated with surface charges, cell morphologies, and internal structures. Applications of dielectrophoresis have included the selective spatial manipulation and separation of mixtures of bacteria, viable and unviable cells, cancerous and normal cells, and red and white blood cells.