Disposable microfluidic channel with dielectric layer on PCB for AC sensing of biological cells

In this paper, we report a disposable microfluidic impedance cytometer attached on a reusable printed circuit board (PCB) with dielectric layer for single cell detection. The cover slide acts as a dielectric layer which allows the AC signal to sense the impedance change cross the microfluidic channel. The microfluidic chip can be disposed; while the bottom PCB with pre-deposited electrodes is reusable after each sample test. We experimentally demonstrate that the developed device is able to selectively detect HeLa cells, a type of umor cells, and ignore Red Blood Cells (RBCs). Integration of low cost and disposable microfluidic chip with reusable PCBs widely available in the industry is of great potential in point of care diagnosis of cancer, especially in the developing countries.