Dielectrophoresis-based cell separation and controlled transportation in microfluidics system

Abstract

Dielectrophoresis (DEP) enables precise cell manipulation based on dielectric properties under a non-uniform electric field. In this work, we designed a nine-electrode DC microfluidic system (electrode spacing: 30?m, channel: 300× 100 × 50?m) using COMSOL Multiphysics to study cancer cells (Leukemia, Lymphoma) and polystyrene (PS) beads. The calculated DEP forces were +6 × 10-10 N for cancer cells (pDEP) and -5.3×10-10 N for PS beads (nDEP), confirming opposite migration tendencies. Simulated electric fields (up to 1.23 × 106 V/m) and laminar flow (Re ? 0.05) demonstrated stable trapping and transport within the microchannel. The results validate simultaneous cell separation and transport in a label-free, low-cost DC-DEP platform suitable for lab-on-a-chip cancer diagnostics.