This work describes an improvement in the layout of coplanar electrodes for electrical impedance spectroscopy. We have developed, fabricated, and tested an improved electrode layout, which improves the sensitivity of an impedance flow cytometry chip. The improved chip was experimentally tested and compared to a chip with a conventional electrode layout. The improved chip was able to discriminate 0.5 μm beads from 1 μm as opposed to the conventional chip. Furthermore, finite element modeling was used to simulate the improvements in electrical field density and uniformity between the electrodes of the new electrode layout. Good agreement was observed between the model and the obtained experimental results.

This work describes the electrical investigation of paclitaxel-treated HeLa cells using a custom-made microfluidic biosensor for whole cell analysis in continuous flow. We apply the method of differential electrical impedance spectroscopy to treated HeLa cells in order to elucidate the changes in electrical properties compared with non-treated cells. We found that our microfluidic system was able to distinguish between treated and non-treated cells. Furthermore, we utilize a model for electrical impedance spectroscopy in order to perform a theoretical study to clarify our results. This study focuses on investigating the changes in the electrical properties of the cell membrane caused by the effect of paclitaxel. We observe good agreement between the model and the obtained results. This establishes the proof-of-concept for the application in cell drug therapy.