Introduction

An innovative biosensor capable of identifying one or more insulating particles (for example cells) that flow in a conducting fluid, whilst measuring the volume of the same particles. Compared to the current technologies, the invention allows to have a greater precision of measurement of the particle compared to other electrical measurement techniques such as, EIS (Electrical Impedance Spectroscopy), EIT (Electrical Impedance Tomography) with circular geometry or to cost less than to a video tracking system based on artificial vision. Furthermore, with the same measurement it is possible to establish the volume of the particle.

Technical features

Innovative measuring system to detect the position of one or more particles flowing in a conducting fluid, formed by a certain number of active electrodes, and passive electrodes through which it is possible to proceed with the measurement. By geometric construction, the particle inside the conducting fluid can be described through a dipole model. With a reconstruction algorithm it is possible to obtain important information such as the position and size of the particle from the measurement carried out on the passive electrodes. The systems present at the state of the art allow tracking on the cell using video tracking systems that are very expensive, slower and do not work with opaque fluids. The invention, on the other hand, allows for a much higher precision than other impedance-based systems thanks to the design of the electrodes and the robust reconstruction of the position. The invention is at a stage of development TRL 4, for which laboratory experiments have been successfully carried out.

Possible Applications

• Cytometry;
• Lab on a chip;
• Biomedical laboratories.

Advantages

• Economy and speed compared to a tracking solution based on artificial vision;
• Label-free, i.e. also works for opaque fluids without fluorescence markers;
• High precision;
• Passive electrodes;
• Volume measurement of the particle without further measurements.