A milestone toward clinical laboratory automation - measurement of dielectrophoretic force of femto-Newtons (10−15 Newtons) -

If the nuclear folding and clefting characteristic of monocytoid cells are not present, the morphologic features observed under light microscopy may not be sufficient to clarify the diagnosis. Much more reliable methodology should be developed for the clinical examination. Dielectrophoresis (DEP) is the motion of a matter caused by polarization effects in a non-uniform electric field. The dielectrophoretic force would be the candidate to achieve the separation, handling and characterization of the biological cells in the medium. It is not so easy to measure this extremely small motive force, though it is very important. This paper describes the methodology to measure the dielectrophoretic force of several tens of femto-Newtons.