Enrichment of diluted cell populations from large sample volumes using 3D carbon-electrode dielectrophoresis

Here, we report on an enrichment protocol using carbon electrode dielectrophoresis to isolate and purify a targeted cell population from sample volumes up to 4 ml. We aim at trapping, washing, and recovering an enriched cell fraction that will facilitate downstream analysis. We used an increasingly diluted sample of yeast, 10⁶–10² cells/ml, to demonstrate the isolation and enrichment of few cells at increasing flow rates. A maximum average enrichment of 154.2 ± 23.7 times was achieved when the sample flow rate was 10 μl/min and yeast cells were suspended in low electrically conductive media that maximizes dielectrophoresis trapping. A COMSOL Multiphysics model allowed for the comparison between experimental and simulation results. Discussion is conducted on the discrepancies between such results and how the model can be further improved.