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

路易斯维尔大学获得了一项奖励，以开发一种等动介电电泳（isoDEP）微流体设备，该设备将提取单个细胞的介电特性。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以进行环境监测，细菌鉴定以监测食品安全或识别癌细胞。isoDEP设备的详细信息将通过技术演示和社交媒体向当地生物界和公众传播。教育推广将包括接触isoDEP物理学和仪器开发的本科生从农村贫困地区的阿巴拉契亚和高中学生从中央高中，其中一个最古老的城市中学在肯塔基州。分析人口中的单个细胞可以监测环境条件或评估人类健康。特别是，介电性质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，细胞特性如膜电容、膜电阻和细胞质电导率直接反映细胞的生物学结构。该项目将通过电动环境下的粒子跟踪来提取介电测量值，其速率至少比现有方法高一个数量级。通过与默里州立大学合作，将进行淡水浮游植物分析，用于环境监测。 与当地的小企业（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，供世界各地的科学家使用。

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.