Biological Engineering : Original Article ; A Dielectrophoresis Microfluidic Device for Trapping Bioparticles at Low Voltage and Frequency

Purpose: The necessity for precise manipulation of bioparticles has greatly increased in the fields of bioscience, biomedical, and environmental monitoring. Dielectrophoresis (DEP) is considered to be an ideal technique to manipulate bioparticles. The objective of this study is to develop a DEP microfluidic device that can trap fluorescent beads, which mimic bioparticles, at the low voltage and frequency of the sinusoidal signal supplied to the microfluidic device. Methods: A DEP microfluidic device, which is composed of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) channels and interdigitated electrode networks, is fabricated to trap fluorescent beads. The geometry of the interdigitated electrodes is determined through computational simulation. To determine the optimum voltage and frequency of the sinusoidal signal supplied to the device, the experiments of trapping beads are conducted at various combinations of voltage and frequency. The performance of the DEP microfluidic device is evaluated by investigating the correlation between fluorescent intensities and bead concentrations. Results: The optimum ratio of the widths between the negative and positive electrodes was 1:4 (20:80 μm) at a gap of 20 μm between the two electrodes. The DEP electrode networks were fabricated based on this geometry and used for the bead trapping experiments. The optimum voltage and frequency of the supplied signal for trapping fluorescent beads were 15 V and 5 kHz, respectively. The fluorescent intensity of the trapped beads increased linearly as the bead concentration increased. The coefficient of determination (R(2)) between the fluorescent intensity and the bead concentration was 0.989. Conclusions: It is concluded that the microfluidic device developed in this study is promising for trapping bioparticles, such as a cell or virus, if they are conjugated to beads, and their concentration is quantified.