A new optically-induced dielectrophoretic (ODEP) force-based scheme for effective cell sorting

This manuscript presents a new optically-induced dielectrophoretic (ODEP)-based operation methodology that is capable of sorting or separating cells based on their size differences. In this study, a moving light bar was generated in a pre-defined speed to separate different cell types, which were influenced by different magnitudes of ODEP forces and therefore have different moving velocities. The operation conditions of ODEP forces for the manipulation of prostate cancer cells (PC-3) and leukocytes were first characterized. Under the following operation conditions (AC voltage: 5V, 100 kHz; gap of working chamber: 50 μm; bar width of light image: 40 μm), the maximum velocities of the moving light bar that can effectively manipulate PC-3 cells and leukocytes were quantified to be 150.8±9.3, and 67.3±9.8 μm s_-1, respectively. Furthermore, this technique was used to sort PC-3 cells from a leukocyte background with high cell separation efficiency (82-89%). Overall, this study has presented a new ODEP-based operation scheme that is capable of sorting or separating cells in a simple, efficient, and precise manner. All these characteristic features are found particularly valuable for the biological researches in which the isolation of highly pure cell species is important.