Reconfigurable dielectrophoretic device for neurotransmitters sensing and manipulation

In this paper we describe a new approach for cell sensing and manipulation in a Lab-on-Chip (LoC) structure through two types of reconfigurable matrices of 322 square electrodes and 14 L-shaped electrodes respectively. The area of each square electrode is 10 mum times 10 mum and its thickness is 2 mum. In each architecture two extra large area electrodes are dedicated for a capacitive sensing of selected cells concentration. The proposed cell manipulation method consists of controlling the depth of the electrical field propagation which was improved around 3 times more when activating a group of 9 electrodes instead of only one. Thus, with this approach the cell actuation depends on the number of the activated electrodes surrounding the cell. Consequently the sensitivity of cells manipulation inside the microchannel is significantly enhanced. Experimental results allowed the capacitive sensor to measure a variation of 1.06 pF upon a liquid flow.