We present a microfluidic dielectrophoretic-actuated system designed to trap chosen single-cell and form controlled cell aggregates. A novel method is proposed to characterize the efficiency of the dielectrophoretic trapping, considering the flow speed but also the heat generated by the traps as limiting criteria in cell-safe manipulation. Two original designs with different manufacturing processes are experimentally compared. The most efficient design is selected and the cell membrane integrity is monitored by fluorescence imaging to guarantee a safe-cell trapping. Design rules are suggested to adapt the traps to multiple-cells trapping and are experimentally validated as we formed aggregates of controlled size and composition with two different types of cells. We provide hereby a simple manufactured tool allowing the controlled manipulation of particles for the composition of multicellular assemblies.
Keywords: cell trapping; cellular assemblies; dielectrophoreis (DEP); electroporation; microfluidics.
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