Working towards a sample preparation device with carbon nanotubes

Advances in microfabrication have introduced new possibilities for automated, high-throughput biomedical investigations and analyses. Physical effects such as dielectrophoresis and electroporation can be used to manipulate particles in solution to coordinate a sequence of bioanalytical processing steps. Dielectrophoresis is accomplished with non-uniform electric fields that can polarize particles in suspension and exert static or translational forces. Electroporation is accomplished with high-strength electric fields that can create pores on the plasma membranes of cells. Membrane breakdown under high voltage is associated with cell death and a dispersal of cell contents including nucleic acids and protein. This paper presents summaries of multiple experiments in both dielectrophoresis and electroporation. In the electroporation experiments, carbon nanotubes were used to enhance electric field strengths with the goal of reducing the voltage requirements for portable lab-on-a-chip devices with strict power limitations. The concept is to create a sample preparation device which is capable of separating cells into multiple chambers for cell lysis by carbon nanotubes and releasing their DNA for further analysis.