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Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) are rare cells shed into the bloodstream by invasive tumors and their analysis offers a promising noninvasive tool to predict and monitor therapeutic responses. CTCs can be isolated from patient blood and their characterization at single‐cell level can inform on the genomic landscape of a tumor. All CTC enrichment methods bear a burden of contaminating normal cells, which mandate a further step of purification to enable reliable downstream genetic analysis. Here, we describe the DEPArray™ technology, a microchip‐based digital sorter, which combines precise microfluidic and microelectronic enabling precise, image‐based isolation of single CTCs, which can then be analyzed by Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) methods. © 2018 The Authors. Cytometry Part A published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of International Society for Advancement of Cytometry.

Dielectrophoresis (DEP) is a very valuable approach for designing and developing laboratory-on-a-chip (lab-on-a-chip) devices that are able to manipulate microparticles and cells. Lab-on-a-chip technology will enable laboratory testing to move from laboratories using complex equipment to nonlaboratory settings. We used a lab-on-a-chip device, the SmartSlide, which carries 193 parallel electrodes and generates up to 50 cylinder-shaped DEP cages able to entrap microparticles and cells within DEP cages and move them along the chip. For lab-on-a-chip technology, the characterization of microparticles exhibiting a differential ability to be DEP-caged, levitated, and moved is important for the development of both diagnostic and therapeutic protocols. We determined whether the SmartSlide could be used to levitate and move tripalmitin-based lipospheres carrying increasing concentrations of dihexadecyl dimethyl ammonium bromide (DHDAB) as a cationic surfactant. The data obtained with this DEP-based platform showed that DEP caging, levitation, and movement of the cationic lipospheres depended on the percentage of DHDAB. Tripalmitin lipospheres containing 6% DHDAB could be DEP-caged and manipulated. On the contrary, lipospheres containing 12% DHDAB did not exhibit an efficient ability to be DEP-caged and moved throughout the chip. To our knowledge, this is the first report on the possible use of a DEP-based lab-on-a-chip device for guided manipulation of lipospheres. This information might be of interest in the fields of drug discovery, delivery, and diagnosis. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2008

The development of microfabricated devices manufactured in silicon, glass, or plastic materials is a well-known trend in the research of novel biological techniques and tools over the last two decades, resulting in a multitude of start-up companies serving the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and diagnostics markets. However, the idea of implementing such devices on microelectronic substrates has been introduced only recently. This chapter aims to describe the state-of-the-art of microsystems for molecular and cell biology produced in general purpose CMOS (complementary metal oxide semiconductor) technology, emphasizing the advantages of this approach along with their challenges and limitations. This chapter discusses significant examples of fully tested devices in comparison with existing state-of-the-art techniques.

In this study we describe an original, efficient, and innovative printed circuit board (PCB) device able to generate dielectrophoresis-based, software-controlled cages that can be moved to any place inside a microchamber. Depending on their dielectrophoretic properties, eukaryotic cells can be “entrapped” in cages and moved under software control. The main conclusion gathered from the experimental data reported is that the PCB device based on dielectrophoresis permits levitation and movement of different tumor cells at different dielectrophoresis conditions. The results presented herein are therefore the basis for experiments aimed at forced interactions or separation of eukaryotic cells using “lab-on-a-chip.” In fact, because many cages can be controlled at the same time, and two or more cages can be forced to share the same or a different location, it is possible, in principle, either to bring in contact cells of a differing histotype or to separate them. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Biotechnol Bioeng 82: 474–479, 2003.