High frequency wideband permittivity measurements of biological substances using coplanar waveguides and application to cell suspensions

Complex permittivity measurements of liquids and living cell suspensions with Finite Ground Coplanar waveguides (FG-CPW) in a SU-8 reservoir are presented. A simple de-embedding method based on ABCD matrices is described. Complex permittivity measurements of reference liquids such as methanol and isopropanol show good agreement with theoretical values. Results on living cell suspensions (human embryonic kidney cells) measured over the frequency range of 1 to 32 GHz are described. Dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO) toxicity tests on cell suspension show time dependent permittivity changes due to cell disintegration and diffusion process.