Basic Verification of Cancer Cell Separation Characteristics in a Dielectrophoretic Device Using a Microcylindrical Electrodes

Abstract

Highly accurate isolation of circulating tumor cells (CTC) in the blood is essential for early detection of cancer. In particular, the dielectrophoretic device with a 3D structure can be expected to have separation accuracy, which cannot be obtained with conventional 2D shapes. In this study, an isolating leukemia-derived suspended Jurkat cell and fluorescent polystyrene particle, which are particles of uniform size, using a 3D microcylindrical electrodes are conducted. When the concentration of Jurkat cells was reduced to 1/100 of the concentration of polystyrene particles, Jurkat cells and polystyrene particles could be efficiently separated, and the collection efficiency at Outlet II, the outlet for the collection of target cells, was 100% and 2%, respectively. It was suggested that the proposed device may be able to separate cells of similar size with high accuracy.