Travelling-wave dielectrophoresis allowing flexible microchannel design for suspended cell handling

In this contribution, we present travelling-wave based dielectrophoretic (twDEP) microfluidic devices for the handling of suspended grown cells. Travelling-wave based dielectrophoretic devices rely on a moving electric field gradient, which can be realised by applying phase-shifted AC-voltages between sets of parallel electrodes. The distance between these electrodes can be reduced to a few micrometres. In optimised conditions, channels with a height of even hundreds of micrometres are applicable. Two microfluidic devices have been realised to investigate the advantages of travellingwave dielectrophoresis for cell handling.