Loading patent…
AssigneeThe Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania
InventorsNader Engheta, Brian Edwards
Estimating the term…
The present invention is directed to the use of dielectrophoretic forces for the arbitrary manipulation of micrometer- and nanometer-sized particles and to devices capable of arbitrarily manipulating micrometer- and nanometer-sized particles by means of dielectrophoretic forces within a two- or three-dimensional region. The devices and methods of the invention are capable of arbitrarily controlling the velocities, locations, and forces applied to a particle, arbitrarily specifying a force or set of forces at a location in space, and determining friction and/or drag coefficients of a particle, and are thus well-suited for a range of applications including cell sorting, drug delivery, as a diagnostic tool for determining membrane stiffness, and in the heterogeneous integration of micro- and nano-components through directed assembly.
A device for the manipulation of N particles using dielectrophoretic forces, comprising an array of 4N+1 electrodes capable of applying an electric field to the N particles, wherein the positions and velocities of the N particles are directly related to a set of electrode voltages applied by the 4N+1 electrodes, and wherein N is a positive integer.
A method for manipulating N particles using dielectrophoretic forces, comprising the step of applying an electric field to the N particles with an array of 4N+1 electrodes, wherein the positions and velocities of the N particles are directly related to a set of electrode voltages applied by the 4N+1 electrodes, and wherein N is a positive integer.
A method for specifying a force at a location in space using dielectrophoretic forces, comprising the step of applying an electric field to the location in space with an array of 4N+1 electrodes, wherein the positions and velocities of the N particles are directly related to a set of electrode voltages applied by the 4N+1 electrodes, and wherein N is a positive integer.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.