Analysis of the role of elution buffers on the separation capabilities of dielectrophoretic devices

Field flow fractionation dielectrophoretic (FFF-DEP) devices are currently used, among the others, for the separation of tumor cells from healthy blood cells. To this end specific suspension/elution buffers (EBs), with reduced conductivity (with respect to that of the cell cytoplasm) are generally used. In this paper we investigate the long-term alterations of the cells and elution buffers. We find that the EB conductivity is critically modified within few minutes after cells suspension. In turn, this modification results in a change the ideal separation frequency of the FFF-DEP device. On the other hand we prove that DEP manipulation is preserved for more than three hours for cells suspended in the considered EBs. Keywords: Dielectrophoresis, Elution buffer, Circulating tumor cells, Cell motility