A dielectrophoretic microchip for controlled cell targeting with functionalized microspheres

Individual cell manipulation and targeting is of major interest in the field of diagnosis, phenotypic characterization and drug delivery. Lab-on-a-chip technologies open the possibility to work easily at the single cell level. We developed a dielectrophoretic microchip capable to trap and manipulate individual cells and microspheres. We targeted single cells with functionalized microspheres in a software-controlled way proving the efficiency and reliability of our chip. As an example, we demonstrate guided targeting and binding of cell lines expressing or not specific antigens with microspheres coated or not with the corresponding monoclonal antibodies.