Multi-frequency dielectrophoretic characterization of single cells

Abstract

We explore the use of dielectrophoresis to discern the electrical properties of single cells by observing them at multiple frequencies. We first simulate experimental conditions to show that as we increase the number of measured frequencies, we are able to better discriminate among different cells. Furthermore, we use the simulation to find the optimal number and value of frequencies to use to best discriminate among different cells in general. We then fabricate a microfluidic device, calibrate it with polystyrene beads, and characterize it with BA/F3 cells. With this device, we test three different activation levels of HL60 cells treated with cytochalasin D using the optimal frequency sequence obtained in simulation to determine the differences in discrimination abilities depending on the number of frequencies used. We quantify the discrimination abilities of the optimal one, two, and three frequencies by minimizing 0-1 loss.