Continuous blood cell separation using a dielectrophoretic virtual pillar array

We present continuous blood cell separation using a virtual pillar array induced by negative dielectrophoretic forces. The present cell separation method reduces particle clogging caused by microstructures. Experimental study verifies the clogging-free size-dependent blood cell separation feasibility using diluted whole blood. The separation positions of red blood cells (11130) and white blood cells (WBCs) are measured as 17.3±150μm and 585±62μm, respectively, at the conditions of the 20V
pp
(peak-to-peak voltage) 500kHz square wave input signal, the net flow rate of 0.2μl/min, and the buffer conductivity of 0.5S/m. Therefore, the present method has potential to apply in biological separations where we suffer due to the clogging.