Microelectrode Discretization (MED) Method for a Dielectrophoretic Particle Collector

Abstract

An array of microfabricated interdigitated electrodes is a most commonly used form of electrode geometry for dielectrophoretic (DEP) manipulation of biological particles in microfluidic biochips due to simplicity of fabrication and ease of analysis. However, the DEP force is dramatically reduced with the distance from the electrode surface, so the effective region is usually close to the electrode surface given electric potential difference. Here, a novel method to find new electrode patterns to generate higher electric field gradient, which we call “Microelectrode Discretization (MED)” method, was presented via the discretization and reconstruction of the interdigitated electrodes. An MED-optimized electrode design was used in a DEP particle collector, which showed approximately two times more capture of Escherichia coli than the interdigitated electrodeembedded particle collector. This simple design method can also be used for other microfluidic system using the interdigitated electrode array.