Microfluidic impedance cytometer with face-to-face electrodes for multi-parameter phenotyping and accurate discrimination of cells

Obtaining multiple cellular biophysical features is meaningful in single-cell analysis. Herein, we develop a CellDetector based on inertial microfluidics and impedance cytometry to acquire massive cellular features and realize accurate discrimination between different types of cells. In our device, a microfluidic serpentine channel, four pairs of face-to-face electrodes, and a 2-current differential method are applied to acquire impedance signals with four different peaks, which are helpful for obtaining massive cellular features. After the design of our device, numerical simulation and experiments are conducted to verify the feasibility of our device. The results demonstrated that 7–20 μm particles, WBCs and three types of tumor cells can be focused and detected precisely at the flow rate of 100 μL/min and 29 types of cellular dielectric features can be obtained according to the unique impedance signal waveforms. With the usage of machine learning algorithm, precise discrimination between WBCs and tumor cells can be achieved, where the highest accuracy can reach 99.1 %. Due to the advantages of portable and easy to use, our device may hold great potentials in the fields of medical diagnosis and biochemical analysis.