Parallel Cell Array Patterning and Target Cell Lysis on an Optoelectronic Micro-Well Device

This work presents a novel electrical method, implemented in the form of a microfluidic device, for cell arraying and target cell lysis. The microfluidic device contains a micro-well array on the photoconductive layer based on the optoelectronic tweezers (OET) method, where parallel cell manipulation is performed. As cell suspension flows over the micro-wells, cells can be actively captured in the micro-wells by light-induced dielectrophoresis (DEP) forces, form the designed pattern array in less than 120 s. The single-cell capture rate is over 83 % in the patterned cell array, and about 94% of micro-wells are occupied by cells. Then, the target cell in the specific micro-well is illuminated and lysed by electroporation in 5 seconds. The micro-well barriers and DEP forces block the influence of the flow, and a relatively closed space is critical to preserve the cell lysates. Through experiments, light-induced DEP force cell capture and target cell electroporation can be modulated by changing the light patterns and the applied signal. This device, based on the OET and dynamic electroporation, allows the rapidity in the cell capture and target lysis at the single-cell level and can enable single-cell-based studies, such as molecular diagnostics and disease detection.