High-Throughput Selective Capture of Single Circulating Tumor Cells by Dielectrophoresis at a Wireless Electrode Array

We demonstrate continuous high-throughput selective capture of circulating tumor cells by dielectrophoresis at arrays of wireless electrodes (bipolar electrodes, BPEs). The use of BPEs removes the requirement of ohmic contact to individual array elements, thus enabling otherwise unattainable device formats. Capacitive charging of the electrical double layer at opposing ends of each BPE allows an AC electric field to be transmitted across the entire device. Here, two such designs are described and evaluated. In the first design, BPEs interconnect parallel microchannels. Pockets extruding from either side of the microchannels volumetrically control the number of cells captured at each BPE tip and enhance trapping. High-fidelity single-cell capture was achieved when the pocket dimensions were matched to those of the cells. A second, open design allows many non-targeted cells to pass through. These devices enable high-throughput capture of rare cells and single-cell analysis.