Dielectrophoresis separator cross-over frequency measurement systems

A non-transitory computer readable storage medium encoded with instructions executable by a processor, the non-transitory computer-readable storage medium comprising:

• instructions to apply a frequency through electrodes of a DEP separator to generate an electric field in the DEP separator that affects movement of a cell in a buffer based on a relative polarizability of the cell and the buffer, the separator comprising an inlet channel to receive a fluid flow including the cell and two outlet channels branching from the inlet channel,
• wherein the DEP separator comprises a focusing region to receive the fluid flow from the inlet channel, the focusing region being tapered to narrow the fluid flow into a separation region that is configured to separate, using the electric field generated across the separation region, the cell into one or the other of the two outlet channels;
• instructions to track movement of the cell to one of the two outlet channels of the DEP separator;
• instructions to repeat application of a frequency for a plurality of different predefined frequencies and to repeat tracking movement of the cell for each one of the plurality of predefined frequencies;
• instructions to calculate a cross-over frequency based on data collected from the instructions to track movement of the cell to one of the two outlet channels of the DEP separator;
• and
• instructions to set an operational frequency of an electrical field generator of the DEP separator based on the cross-over frequency to perform a subsequent separation of the cell from a mixture of different types of cells in the buffer.

A method, comprising:

• injecting a fluid containing one or more different types of particles and a buffer into a microfluidic channel of a dielectrophoresis (DEP) separator, the DEP separator comprising an inlet channel to receive a flow of the fluid and two outlet channels branching from the inlet channel;
• applying, through an electric field generator of the DEP separator, an electric field that affects movement of the particles to one or the other of the two outlet channels of the DEP separator based on dielectrophoretic properties of the particles,
• wherein the DEP separator comprises a focusing region to receive the flow from the microfluidic channel, the focusing region being tapered to narrow the flow into a separation region that is configured to separate, using the electric field generated across the separation region, a first type of particle into one or the other of the two outlet channels;
• tracking a movement of at least some of the particles to one or the other of the two outlet channels of the DEP separator;
• and
• calculating a cross-over frequency for the first type of particle based at least on the movement of the first type of particle to one or the other of the two outlet channels.