AC ELECTROKINETICS IN MICROSYSTEMS FOR SINGLE-CELL CYTOMETRY, MANIPULATION AND SENSING
Nathan Swami, University of Virginia, USA
Federica Caselli, University of Rome Tor Vergata, ITALY

Workshop Description:
Presentation slides for each of the three sections (cytometry, manipulation and inline detection), including example design issues for guiding an integrative discussion on each section.

Overview of Material to Be Covered and What Attendees Can Expect to Take Away From the Workshop:
Nearly fifty years after the first demonstration on the utilization of AC electric fields to discern the viability of cells (Pohl and Hawk; Science 152, 647-649 (1966)), the field of AC electrokinetics has been transformed in the last decade by its complementary application with microfluidic flows and within nano-confined channels for highly controlled manipulation and sensing of biosystems. This workshop will focus on emerging microsystem platforms for application of AC electrokinetics towards label-free cytometry, manipulation and inline detection of cells, microbials and nanostructures, with single-particle sensitivity. After a presentation of the underlying concepts, examples from the literature will be used to illustrate the integration of the tool-set for guiding a design-oriented discussion. Example discussion topics will include: role for label-free cytometry, simulation-assisted design aspects, positional detection of particles in microfluidic channels, detection of particle shape anisotropy, significance of intracellular electrophysiology, avoiding loss of cell functionality under AC fields, achieving high throughput separation using AC electrokinetics, going beyond size-based to cell electrophysiology-based fractionation of samples, and addressing the challenge of impedance as basis for sorting.

Who Should Attend:
This workshop will provide perspectives on the simulation-assisted device design approach for AC electrokinetics. Hence, it should benefit early-stage researchers who want to understand the concepts and capabilities of AC electrokinetics, as well as those already utilizing electrokinetic methods, by presenting a discussion around the state-of-the-art designs reported over the last decade within literature. Analogies from AC electrokinetics to complementary force fields, such as acoustics and magnetic methods, will be used to bring researchers from other fields into the workshop. For those interested on the industrial side of the technology, some example commercial products using AC electrokinetics will also be presented.