A microfluidic device is presented for the continuous separation of red blood cells (RBCs) and white blood cells (WBCs) in a label-free manner based on negative dielectrophoresis (n-DEP). An alteration of the electric field, generated by pairs of slanted electrodes (separators) that is fabricated by covering parts of single slanted electrodes with an insulating layer is used to separate cells by their sizes. The repulsive force of n-DEP formed by slanted electrodes prepared on both the top and bottom substrates led to the deflection of the cell flow in lateral directions. The presence of gaps covered with an insulating layer for the electric field on the electrodes allows the passing of RBCs through gaps, while relatively large WBCs (cultured cultured human acute monocytic leukemia cell line (THP-1 cells)) flowed along the slanted separator without passing through the gaps and arrived at an edge in the channel. The passage efficiency for RBCs through the gaps and the arrival efficiency for THP-1 cells to the upper edge in the channel were estimated and found to be 91% and 93%, respectively.

中文翻译：

---

基于三维微带电极的负介电电泳法对血细胞的微流分离。

提出了一种基于负介电电泳（n-DEP）的无标记方式连续分离红细胞（RBC）和白细胞（WBC）的微流体装置。通过用绝缘层覆盖单个倾斜电极的一部分而制成的成对的倾斜电极（分离器）产生的电场变化可用于按其大小分隔电池。由在顶部和底部基板上均准备的倾斜电极形成的n-DEP的排斥力导致了细胞流在横向方向上的偏转。电极上存在被电场绝缘的绝缘层覆盖的间隙，使RBC穿过间隙，而相对较大的白细胞（培养的人急性单核细胞白血病细胞培养物（THP-1细胞））则沿倾斜的分离器流动而不穿过间隙，到达通道的边缘。估计RBC通过间隙的通过效率和THP-1细胞到达通道上边缘的到达效率，分别为91％和93％。