Numerical Investigation of a Novel Wiring Scheme Enabling Simple and Accurate Impedance Cytometry

Abstract

Microfluidic impedance cytometry is a label-free approach for high-throughput analysis of particles and cells. It is based on the characterization of the dielectric properties of single particles as they flow through a microchannel with integrated electrodes. However, the measured signal depends not only on the intrinsic particle properties, but also on the particle trajectory through the measuring region, thus challenging the resolution and accuracy of the technique. In this work we show via simulation that this issue can be overcome without resorting to particle focusing, by means of a straightforward modification of the wiring scheme for the most typical and widely used microfluidic impedance chip.

Keywords

• microfluidics
• electrical impedance
• single-cell analysis
• lab-on-a-chip
• finite element method
• virtual laboratory