Dielectrophoresis: A Review of Applications for Stem Cell Research

Figure 2

Theoretical modelling of the polarisability factor 𝑝 of (1) and (3), as a function of frequency, for a viable cell suspended in a solution of conductivity 40 mS/m. The modelling employs the double-shell representation of a nucleated cell [13]. The plot is normalized against the polarisability of a conducting sphere of the same diameter. With increasing frequency, the membrane capacitance electrically shorts out the membrane resistance, allowing the applied field to penetrate through the cytoplasmic membrane, and the cell’s polarisability approaches that (𝑝 = 1) of a conducting sphere. Changes in cell diameter, from 10 𝜇m to 20 𝜇m, alter the polarisability for frequencies below ∼1 MHz.