Abstract The cell transport and suspension using AC electrokinetics is essential for cell patterning and other biomedical applications in microfluidics. To avoid the undue cellular stress and irreversible damage to cells caused by low conductivity media, direct manipulations of cells in physiological solution of high electrical conductivity without dilution becomes significant. The driving mechanism of alternating current electrothermal (ACET) flow makes it attractive for pumping the physiological conductivity solution and transporting cells through the electrohydrodynamic (EHD) force. In addition, negative dielectrophoresis (nDEP) force is induced on a cell when its electrical conductivity is lower than that of solution media. In this paper, the effectiveness of ACET flow and negative DEP force in high conductivity solution is novelly used simultaneously to achieve a successful long-range cell transport and suspension in the microfluidic chamber. An immersed boundary-lattice Boltzmann method (IB-LBM) is developed to investigate the cell transport and suspension mechanism with respect to AC voltage magnitude, electrical conductivities of cell and solution, cell initial position, and cell size. It is found that a sufficient DEP force is indispensable for stabilizing the cell transport process and anchoring cells by overcoming the cell-cell interaction. Based on this, the design of a lab-on-a-chip device to generate a large DEP force is essential for future research to realize an efficient AC electrokinetic-based cell transport and suspension in physiological fluids.

中文翻译：

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浸入式边界晶格玻尔兹曼法在负介电泳高电导率电热流中的细胞传输和悬浮

摘要 使用交流电动力学的细胞运输和悬浮对于微流体中的细胞图案和其他生物医学应用至关重要。为避免低电导率介质对细胞造成的过度细胞应激和不可逆损伤，在高电导率生理溶液中直接操作细胞而无需稀释变得重要。交流电热 (ACET) 流的驱动机制使其对于泵送生理电导率溶液和通过电流体动力 (EHD) 力传输细胞具有吸引力。此外，当细胞的电导率低于溶液介质时，会在细胞上产生负介电泳 (nDEP) 力。在本文中，ACET 流和负 DEP 力在高电导率溶液中的有效性被新颖地同时使用，以在微流体室中实现成功的远程细胞运输和悬浮。开发了一种浸入式边界晶格玻尔兹曼方法 (IB-LBM) 来研究与交流电压幅度、细胞和溶液的电导率、细胞初始位置和细胞大小相关的细胞运输和悬浮机制。发现足够的 DEP 力对于通过克服细胞间相互作用稳定细胞转运过程和锚定细胞是必不可少的。基于此，设计芯片实验室设备以产生大的 DEP 力对于未来的研究至关重要，以实现基于交流电动的有效细胞在生理液体中的运输和悬浮。