Hybrid polymer/thin film impedance system for label free monitoring of cells

Impedance measurements (capacitive cytometry) have been used to perform label-free analysis of cells. Two devices were constructed using a simple liquid photopolymerization technique known as μFluidicTectonics. This platform has made it possible to rapidly fabricate with great ease and without the use of traditional MEMS technology a cell impedance measurement system. Measurements were made using not only a single 1 kHz frequency but also a frequency sweep from 50 Hz to 20 kHz. Single frequency measurements on SP2 mouse cells showed show that there is a strong, linear relationship between the DNA content of individual cells and their dielectric (or capacitance) response to a 1 kHz field. Frequency sweeps were conducted on SF9 cells as means to perform diagnostic measurements of the device when different number of cells are present.