High frequency microfluidic biosensors for intracellular dielectric spectroscopy

Abstract : This paper deals with the development and characterization of a high frequency (HF) label-free microfluidic biosensor for the non-invasive analysis of cell intracellular properties. The presented microfluidic biosensor is based on a band pass filter architecture made of thick gold electrodes designed to ensure a high sensitivity to cells flowing in the microfluidic channel. In a first step, to prove the feasibility of the proposed approach, HF measurements have been successfully achieved on polystyrene beads. Then, combining HF measurements with dielectrophoresis forces, to trap cells in the sensitive area, it has been possible to characterize cell dielectric properties without any denaturation. We demonstrate here the proof of concept of using high frequency impedance spectroscopy to analyze single cells in a microfluidic environment.