Improvement of cell capture efficiency using a reversible DEP field

This work proposes the first time using a periodic and reversible DEP (dielectrophoresis) field to improve the capture efficiency of the rare specific cells in a mixed cell suspension. The forward DEP field will gently guide all the cells in a suspension to interact with bio-probes that are immobilized on a PVDF substrate in a reactor. The reverse DEP field will redistribute the un-bonded cells into the suspension for next reaction chance. The experimental results indicated that the forward DEP can double the cell capture efficiency compared with that without DEP enhancement, and the reversible DEP scheme can improve the efficiency about 25% further.