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A Handheld Electronics Module for Dielectrophoretic Impedance Measurement of Cancerous Cells in the Microchip

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Abstract

This study proposes a handheld electronics module integrated with the microchip that utilizes dielectrophoretic (DEP) impedance measurement for characterizing of cancerous cell lines. The microchip consists of circle-on-line-shaped interdigitated microelectrodes, which were used for DEP concentration and impedance sensing of cells within a chamber, patterned by standard microfabrication processes. The handheld electronics module was built for measuring impedance of cancerous cells in the microchip. It can provide sinusoidal electrical signals in a large range of frequencies. The analyzed results demonstrate a high-sensitivity impedance measurement. Meanwhile, the linear relationships between the admittance variation and the number of cell were observed for both two human lung cell lines, namely A549 human lung carcinoma cells and MRC-5 human lung epithelial cells. The difference in the slopes of these characteristic lines could be used to distinguish two stages of lung cells. The proposed device is simple to operate, has high sensitivity, inexpensive and portable.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanical Engineering and Advanced Institute of Manufacturing for High-Tech Innovations, National Chung Cheng University, Chia-Yi, Taiwan, Republic of China

    Ngoc-Viet Nguyen, Jih-Hao Yeh & Chun-Ping Jen

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  1. Ngoc-Viet Nguyen
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  2. Jih-Hao Yeh
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  3. Chun-Ping Jen
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Correspondence to Chun-Ping Jen.

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Nguyen, NV., Yeh, JH. & Jen, CP. A Handheld Electronics Module for Dielectrophoretic Impedance Measurement of Cancerous Cells in the Microchip. BioChip J 12, 208–215 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13206-018-2302-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13206-018-2302-4

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