Manipulation of living cells by optically induced dielectrophoresis

Optically-induced dielectrophoresis (ODEP) provides an effective method for the manipulation of microparticles using a direct projection of light pattern onto the surface of a photoconductive material. In this work, an a-Si:H-based ODEP chip was developed with a 0.5μm photoconductive thin film. A new scheme for the establishment of an electrical connection with a mold in the thin film deposition process was presented. In the experiment, living cells were manipulated and collected using the developed ODEP chip. The results have shown that the cells can be collected successfully with the dielectrophoresis force. In the cell manipulation process, only 0.2 mW optical power was used to turn on the ODEP chip, corresponding to the density of 0.5 mW/cm2. The optical intensity was much lower than that by using typical ODEP chip and it reduced the focusing requirements.