This paper presents the theoretical and experimental development of an integrated position sensor for lab-on-a-chip devices. The interest for single cell analysis is growing. However, this requires monitoring and controlling cell displacements in real time during their journey in the chip. Due to the high number of cells that must be monitored at the same time, classical vision-based sensors are not suitable. This paper aims to present an alternative based on impedance measurement. The position of the cells is obtained from the variation of impedance measured between two electrodes. This technique presents several advantages: the sensor is integrated into the chip, the measurement electrodes are compatible with the fabrication process of actuation electrodes for dielectrophoresis, the sampling time of the sensor is high and the position of the cells can be obtained in real time. This article highlights the concept of position-sensitive impedance sensing. The design of the chip, and in particular of the electrodes, is discussed to improve the sensitivity and repeatability of the measurement. The issue of real-time detection in a noisy environment is solved by using an extended Kalman filter. As a first proof of concept, this article presents experimental validation on a 1D case to determine the longitudinal position of 8.7 μm diameter beads in a channel.

中文翻译：

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适用于片上实验室设备的基于阻抗的实时位置传感器

本文介绍了用于芯片实验室设备的集成位置传感器的理论和实验开发。对单细胞分析的兴趣正在增长。但是，这需要在芯片行进过程中实时监视和控制单元位移。由于必须同时监视大量单元，因此传统的基于视觉的传感器不适用。本文旨在提出一种基于阻抗测量的替代方案。电池的位置是从两个电极之间测得的阻抗变化中获得的。该技术具有几个优点：传感器集成在芯片中，测量电极与介电泳的驱动电极的制造过程兼容，传感器的采样时间长，可以实时获取细胞位置。本文重点介绍了位置敏感阻抗感测的概念。讨论了芯片，特别是电极的设计，以提高测量的灵敏度和可重复性。通过使用扩展的卡尔曼滤波器，可以解决嘈杂环境中的实时检测问题。作为概念的第一个证明，本文介绍了在一维情况下的实验验证，以确定通道中直径为8.7μm的珠子的纵向位置。通过使用扩展的卡尔曼滤波器，可以解决嘈杂环境中的实时检测问题。作为概念的第一个证明，本文介绍了在一维情况下的实验验证，以确定通道中直径为8.7μm的珠子的纵向位置。通过使用扩展的卡尔曼滤波器，可以解决嘈杂环境中的实时检测问题。作为概念的第一个证明，本文介绍了在一维情况下的实验验证，以确定通道中直径为8.7μm的珠子的纵向位置。