Microfluidic characterization of specific membrane capacitance and cytoplasm conductivity of single cells

Yi Zheng, Ehsan Shojaei-Baghini, Chen Wang, Yu Sun

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

61 Scopus citations

Abstract

This paper presents a technique for single-cell electrical property (specific membrane capacitance and cytoplasm conductivity) characterization at a speed of 5-10cells/s (vs. minutes/cell using existing techniques such as patch clamping and electrorotation). When a cell flows through a microfluidic constriction channel which is marginally smaller than the diameter of tested cells, electrical impedance at multiple frequencies is measured. Electrical and geometrical models are developed to interpret the impedance data and to determine the specific membrane capacitance and cytoplasm conductivity of individual cells. Results from testing 3249 AML-2 cells and 3398 HL-60 cells reveal different specific membrane capacitance and cytoplasm conductivity values between AML-2 (12.0±1.44mF/m2, 0.62±0.10S/m) and HL-60 (14.5±1.75mF/m2, 0.76±0.12S/m) cells. The results also demonstrate that the quantification of specific membrane capacitance and cytoplasm conductivity can enhance cell classification results since these parameters contain information additional to cell size.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)496-502
Number of pages7
JournalBiosensors and Bioelectronics
Volume42
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Apr 5 2013
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Cell classification
  • Electrical characterization
  • High-throughput
  • Impedance spectroscopy
  • Microfluidics
  • Single cells

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Biotechnology
  • Biophysics
  • Biomedical Engineering
  • Electrochemistry

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