Continuous dielectrophoretic separation of cell mixtures

Use of stream-centered dielectrophoresis (1–4) produced continuous separations on three cell mixtures (1)Chlorella vulgaris withNetrium digitus, (2)Ankistrodesmus falcatus withStaurastrum gracile, and (3)Saccharomyces cerevisiae withNetrium digitus. Maximal separations were obtained for these mixtures of live cells at 100 kHz, 600 kHz, and 2.0 MHz, respectively. The technique was restricted to a frequency range of 0.01–32 MHz, and to suspensions of low conductivity in which microorganisms such as these algae and yeast are tolerant. Extension, however, to cellular organisms requiring higher osmolarity is readily feasible through the use of nonionic solutes such as sucrose, mannose, glycine, etc.