Microwave sensors for stem cell identification and discrimination

An original label free bio detection method has been developed in order to discriminate biological samples at the cell scale. In this objective, highly sensitive resonant microwave biosensors have been designed in order to achieve analysis on very limited cells concentration. This paper demonstrates the potential of microwave frequencies for biological analysis using their ability to penetrate inside biological cells and probe their intracellular content without denaturation. Based on permittivity measurement in the 10 to 35 GHz range, the presented results illustrate that it is possible to use microwaves to discriminate biological cells in an non-invasive way as function of their differentiation degree. Application of this technique for stem cells identification appears as a very promising application and opens new areas in research for improving cancer treatments.