Optimization design of interdigitated microelectrodes with an insulation layer on the connection tracks to enhance efficiency of assessment of the cell viability

Sameh Sherif; Yehya H Ghallab; Omnia AbdelRaheem; Laila Ziko; Rania Siam; Yehea Ismail

doi:10.1186/s42490-023-00070-w

Optimization design of interdigitated microelectrodes with an insulation layer on the connection tracks to enhance efficiency of assessment of the cell viability

BMC Biomed Eng. 2023 May 1;5(1):4. doi: 10.1186/s42490-023-00070-w.

Authors

Sameh Sherif^{1

2}, Yehya H Ghallab^{3

4}, Omnia AbdelRaheem⁵, Laila Ziko^{5

6}, Rania Siam⁵, Yehea Ismail⁴

Affiliations

¹ Biomedical Engineering Department, Helwan University, Cairo, Egypt. Sameh.Sherif@aucegypt.edu.
² Center of Nanoelectronics and Devices (CND), Zewail City of Science and Technology and The American University in Cairo (AUC), Cairo, Egypt. Sameh.Sherif@aucegypt.edu.
³ Biomedical Engineering Department, Helwan University, Cairo, Egypt.
⁴ Center of Nanoelectronics and Devices (CND), Zewail City of Science and Technology and The American University in Cairo (AUC), Cairo, Egypt.
⁵ Department of Biology, School of Sciences and Engineering, The American University in Cairo(AUC), Cairo, Egypt.
⁶ School of Life and Medical Sciences, the University of Hertfordshire, Hosted By Global Academic Foundation, Cairo, Egypt.

Abstract

Background: Microelectrical Impedance Spectroscopy (µEIS) is a tiny device that utilizes fluid as a working medium in combination with biological cells to extract various electrical parameters. Dielectric parameters of biological cells are essential parameters that can be extracted using µEIS. µEIS has many advantages, such as portability, disposable sensors, and high-precision results.

Results: The paper compares different configurations of interdigitated microelectrodes with and without a passivation layer on the cell contact tracks. The influence of the number of electrodes on the enhancement of the extracted impedance for different types of cells was provided and discussed. Different types of cells are experimentally tested, such as viable and non-viable MCF7, along with different buffer solutions. This study confirms the importance of µEIS for in vivo and in vitro applications. An essential application of µEIS is to differentiate between the cells' sizes based on the measured capacitance, which is indirectly related to the cells' size. The extracted statistical values reveal the capability and sensitivity of the system to distinguish between two clusters of cells based on viability and size.

Conclusion: A completely portable and easy-to-use system, including different sensor configurations, was designed, fabricated, and experimentally tested. The system was used to extract the dielectric parameters of the Microbeads and MCF7 cells immersed in different buffer solutions. The high sensitivity of the readout circuit, which enables it to extract the difference between the viable and non-viable cells, was provided and discussed. The proposed system can extract and differentiate between different types of cells based on cells' sizes; two other polystyrene microbeads with different sizes are tested. Contamination that may happen was avoided using a Microfluidic chamber. The study shows a good match between the experiment and simulation results. The study also shows the optimum number of interdigitated electrodes that can be used to extract the variation in the dielectric parameters of the cells without leakage current or parasitic capacitance.

Keywords: Impedance; Interdigitated Microelectrodes; MCF7; Microbeads; Microelectrical Impedance Spectroscopy (µEIS); Microfluidic.