Optimization of dielectrophoretic separation and concentration of pathogens in complex biological samples

Sample preparation is a key issue of modern analytical methods for in vitro diagnostics of diseases with microbiological origins: methods to separate bacteria from other elements of the complex biological samples are of great importance. In the present study, we investigated the DEP force as a way to perform such a de-complexification of the sample by extracting micro-organisms from a complex biological sample under a highly non-uniform electric field in a micro-system based on an interdigitated electrodes array. Different parameters were investigated to optimize the capture efficiency, such as the size of the gap between the electrodes and the height of the capture channel. These parameters are decisive for the distribution of the electric field inside the separation chamber. To optimize these relevant parameters, we performed numerical simulations using COMSOL Multiphysics and correlated them with experimental results. The optimization of the capture efficiency of the device has first been tested on micro-organisms solution but was also investigated on human blood samples spiked with micro-organisms, thereby mimicking real biological samples.