Systems and Methods for Electrophysiological Activated Cell Sorting and Cytometry

A method, comprising:

• stimulating a cell with a stimulus;
• sensing a response evoked by the cell based on the stimulus;
• identifying a phenotype of the cell based on the evoked response;
• and
• sorting the cell based on its phenotype.

A system, comprising:

• a flow chamber having a cell inlet;
• an impedance analyzer coupled to the flow cell and configured to detect when a cell has entered the flow chamber;
• a stimulus pulse generator having two stimulation electrodes configured to create an electrical field across the flow chamber;
• a signal detector having two sensing electrodes located on an equipotential line between the stimulation electrodes, wherein the two sensing electrodes are coupled to a differential sensing amp configured to detect an extracellular electrophysiological field potential signal evoked from the cell in response to the electrical field across the flow chamber;
• a processing unit coupled to the signal detector and configured to identify a phenotype of a cell in the flow chamber based on the detected electrophysiological field potential signal evoked from the cell;
• a cell collection chamber coupled to the flow chamber and configured to receive a cell of interest based on the cell's phenotype;
• and
• a drain outlet coupled to the flow and configured to receive unwanted cells or fluid from the flow chamber.