用于片上实验室应用的单细胞电测量的圆形微电极。

Circular shaped microelectrodes for single cell electrical measurements for lab-on-a-chip applications.

机构信息

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Piscataway, NJ, USA.

Department of Electrical Engineering, Lahore University of Management Sciences, Lahore, Pakistan.

出版信息

Biomed Microdevices. 2021 Jul 3;23(3):35. doi: 10.1007/s10544-021-00574-z.

DOI:10.1007/s10544-021-00574-z

PMID:34216279

Abstract

The impedimetric sensing techniques for single cell characterization have witnessed growing interest due to their high sensitivity and widespread applications. However, adapting the method to different biological measurements in microfluidic environments under various input conditions can result in feeble signal detection leading to a drastic decrease in the sensor sensitivity. The reduced signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) hinders the signal differentiation, sensor accuracy and prohibits fully integrated point-of-care applications. Here, we address the sensitivity enhancement for microfluidic impedimetric sensing of micron and submicron-sized microparticles by exploring novel circular shape electrodes in a simulation study. The influence of radial electrode parameters on differential electrical signal is systematically analyzed in COMSOL Multiphysics using spherical particles ranging from 0.75 µm to 5 µm in diameter. Detailed analysis revealed the strong impact of the circular shape microelectrode geometry and the electrode gap on the signal strength, resulting SNR, and device sensitivity for multiple bioparticles detection. Specifically, ˃ 50 dB improvement in SNR was enabled by optimizing the circular electrode geometrical parameters. Our proposed sensing modality can be adapted for nanoparticles detection by further optimizing the microfluidic device parameters.

摘要

基于阻抗传感技术的单细胞特性分析受到了越来越多的关注，因为其具有高灵敏度和广泛的应用。然而，在微流控环境中，在不同的输入条件下，将该方法应用于各种生物测量会导致信号检测能力减弱，从而导致传感器灵敏度急剧下降。降低的信噪比（SNR）会阻碍信号的区分、传感器的准确性，并阻止完全集成的即时护理应用。在这里，我们通过探索新型圆形电极，在模拟研究中解决了微流控阻抗传感中微米和亚微米尺寸微颗粒的灵敏度增强问题。在 COMSOL Multiphysics 中，使用直径从 0.75 µm 到 5 µm 的球形颗粒系统地分析了径向电极参数对差分电信号的影响。详细分析揭示了圆形微电极几何形状和电极间隙对信号强度、SNR 和多个生物颗粒检测器件灵敏度的强烈影响。具体来说，通过优化圆形电极几何参数，可以实现 SNR 提高超过 50 dB。通过进一步优化微流控器件参数，我们提出的这种传感模式可以适用于纳米颗粒的检测。