Cell trapping utilizing insulator-based dielectrophoresis in the open-top microchannels

The ability to manipulate or separate a biological small particle, such as a living cell and embryo, is fundamental needed to many biological and medical applications. The insulator-based dielectrophoresis (iDEP) trapping is composed of conductless tetragon structures in micro-chip. In this study, a lower conductive material of photoresist was adopted as a structure in open-top microchannel instead of a metallic wire to squeeze the electric field in a conducting solution, therefore, creating a high field gradient with a local maximum. The microchip with the open-top microchannels was designed and fabricated herein. The insulator-based DEP trapping microchip with the open-top microchannels was designed and fabricated in this work. The cells trapped by DEP force could be further treated or cultured in the open-top microchannel; however, those trapped in the microchip with enclosed microchannels could not be proceeded easily.