Rapid micropatterning of living cells by repulsive dielectrophoretic force

Micropatterns with living cells were rapidly formed on glass substrates using negative dielectrophoretic force induced at a template microarray electrode consisting of assembly of microband electrodes. The template electrode was placed above the substrate with a 50 mu m-thick spacer and cell suspension was sucked into the space between the substrate and electrode. When an ac voltage (typically, 7 V rms, 10 kHz) was applied to the template electrode, the induced dielectrophoretic force repelled the cells from the electrode and pushed at the glass substrate to form the cell pattern which reflected the electrode shape. The magnitude and frequency of the applied ac voltage affected the resolution and accuracy of the cell patterns. The width of the pattern was controlled by changing the band width of the template. Cell patterns with a single cell alignment appeared when the band width of the template electrode was 20 mu m. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.