An Autonomous Cell Type Selective Irreversible Electroporation Microsystem Using Insulator Based Dielectrophoresis (IDEP)

Irreversible electroporation (IRE) is a method to kill cells by exposing the cell to intense electric field pulses[1]. It is postulated that the lipid bilayer rearranges to create permanent defects in the cell membrane which eventually leads to cell death via necrosis[1]. We postulate that the recurrence of cancer for patients treated for the disease would be minimized if their blood was monitored using a microdevice which would destroy existing or new exfoliated cancer cells. Dielectrophoresis (DEP) is the motion of polarizable particles that are suspended in an electrolyte when subjected to a spatially nonuniform electric field [2]. Insulator-based DEP uses insulating structures rather than electrode arrays to produce the nonuniform fields needed to drive DEP. We hypothesize that iDEP can enable the selective IRE of a particular cell type within a microfluidic platform. This manuscript demonstrates through modeling the feasibility of coupling iDEP with IRE using an AC field with a DC offset. Such a platform could be used to selectively destroy isolate cancer cells while not affecting normal cells.