Separating live and dead yeast cells in a serpentine microchannel using Dielectrophoresis

University Centre for Research and Development, Chandigarh University, Mohali, India 140413

^* Corresponding author: paridhipuri8@gmail.com

Abstract

Separation techniques and particle manipulation has always been a matter of curiosity to research groups worldwide for numerous biomedical applications like cell concentration, separation, patterning, and trapping. The present work describes the fabrication and testing for constant cell separation using Dielectrophoresis phenomenon. The cells with different electric properties separate continuously at different location as they flow across the channel. Known mixture of non viable and viable yeast cells is selectively trapped using negative Dielectrophoresis. We achieved the cell trapping efficiency of 98%. A serpentine structure in the cell separation device appears to be a design choice that addresses the need for continuous separation and improved efficiency by minimizing dead volume.