Characterization of the behaviour of dissociated neurons exposed to dielectrophoretic forces

The behaviour of cortical rat neurons exposed to dielectrophoretic forces is investigated by varying the amplitude and frequency of the applied field. The number of neurons trapped in the center of a planar quadrupole micro-electrode structure is determined for two different amplitudes (3 V and 5 V) and six different frequencies in the range from 1 MHz to 18 MHz. A contradictory trend is found for the yield of trapped neurons for the two amplitudes as a function of the frequency.