Electrokinetic Cell Sorting and Manipulation for Automated Mammalian Cell Culture in Microgravity

Harvard University, ES176-Micro Electro Mechanical Systems, Fall 2017

The proposed device uses electrokinetics to sort cells and align cells. This greatly benefits automated cell culture systems because cell distribution can now be controlled by flow rate and voltage without having a need to manually mix cells. Additionally, the electrokinetic alignment allows for improved automation of imaging because the cells will be aligned in known regions for microscopy. Lastly, the electrokinetic forces can be controlled via image analysis of the cell well itself for real-time feedback control.