IDBR: TYPE A - Isomotive dielectrophoresis for enhanced analyses of cell subpopulations

路易斯维尔大学（University of Louisville）获得了一项奖项，以开发一种可提取单个细胞介电特性的等速电介质电泳（isoDEP）微流体装置。IsoDEP可用于细胞鉴定和分析至关重要的应用，例如研究浮游植物种群用于环境监测，细菌鉴定用于监测食品安全，或识别癌细胞。isoDEP装置的细节将通过技术介绍和社交媒体向当地生物界和公众传播。教育推广将包括向来自阿巴拉契亚农村贫困地区的本科生和肯塔基州历史最悠久的城市中学之一中央高中的高中生介绍isoDEP物理和仪器开发。对群体内单个细胞的分析可以监测环境条件或评估人类健康。特别是，介电特性提供了对细胞条件的洞察，并可用于识别和表征细胞亚群。例如，膜电容、膜电阻、细胞质电导率等细胞特性直接反映了细胞的生物结构。该项目将在电动环境下通过粒子跟踪提取介电测量值，其速率至少比目前的方法大一个数量级。通过与默里州立大学的合作，淡水浮游植物分析将进行环境监测。与当地一家小企业（Ikotech， LLC）合作，这项研究的另一个目标是开发一种isoDEP微流体仪器，供全球科学家使用。

An award is made to the University of Louisville to develop an isomotive dielectrophoresis (isoDEP) microfluidic device that will extract dielectric properties of individual cells. IsoDEP can be used in applications where cell identification and analysis is critical such as studying phytoplankton populations for environmental monitoring, bacteria identification for monitoring food safety, or identifying cancerous cells. Details of the isoDEP device will be disseminated to the local biological community and the general public through technical presentations and social media. Educational outreach will include the exposure of isoDEP physics and instrument development to undergraduate students from rural impoverished regions of Appalachia and to high school students from Central High School, one of the oldest urban secondary schools in Kentucky.The analysis of individual cells within a population can monitor environmental conditions or assess human health. In particular, dielectric properties provide insight into cell conditions and can be used to identify and characterize cell sub-populations. For example, cell properties such as membrane capacitance, membrane resistance, and cytoplasmic conductivity directly reflect the cell's biological structure. This project will extract dielectric measurements through particle tracking under an electrokinetic environment at a rate of at least one order of magnitude greater than current methods. Through collaboration with Murray State University, freshwater phytoplankton analysis will be conducted for environmental monitoring. In collaboration with a local small business (Ikotech, LLC), an additional objective of this research is to develop an isoDEP microfluidic instrument to be used by scientists worldwide.