AC electrical field for the isolation of cancer cells

A novel microdevice for the continuous separation of cancer cells from blood is presented. The device is made from two parts, glass substrate where an array of electrodes is deposited and a PDMS layer that includes a microchannel. The microsystem uses non-uniform electric field to control the movement of living cells inside a microchannel that has one inlet and two outlets. MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells are successfully separated to a different sub-channel down the stream using non-uniform electric field generated by the layer of electrodes deposited at the bottom side of the microchannel. Numerical and experimental results for the separation of cells are presented.