Microfluidic impedance biosensors for monitoring a single and multiple cancer cells in anticancer drug treatments

In this work, we present a novel microfluidic impedance biosensor chip for trapping both a single and multiple cancer cells and monitoring their response to the anticancer drug treatment. By designing different sizes of working microelectrodes together with the V-shaped cell capture structures, a single or multiple cells are trapped on the microelectrodes surfaces. In addition, by utilizing the passive pumping method, cells can be trapped and positioned inside the microchannels without the need of using the outer micro pump or syringe. The impedance change induced by the response of cells to the anticancer drug Cisplatin treatment was successfully recorded. The proposed biosensor chip has a great potential for applications in cancer cell research, drug screening, and quantification of cancer cells from various tumor stages. The results of this study open potential research collaborations about development of cost-effective devices and lab-on-chips for early disease detection, studies of cancerous cells and their response to anti-cancer drugs to optimize cancer treatments, characterisation of mechanical properties of cells, new drug delivery mechanisms, and micro and nano manufacturing. © Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2018.