A multi-channel sinusoidal generator for electrokinetic stimulation of microfluidic platforms

This paper presents a multi-channel sinusoidal generator based in triangle-to-sine (TSC) converters. The proposed signal generator is used as stimulator of electrokinetic microfluidic platforms for particle manipulation. The device is capable to deliver sixteen independent sinusoidal signals with control of amplitude and frequency. The multi-generator presents a frequency range of 8kHz to 21MHz with an output range of 0V to 3.1VPP. The output voltage can be extended to give outputs with amplitudes up to 20VPP using an interface card. The proposed multi-oscillator is based in an application specific circuit, was fabricated in a 0.35um CMOS technology and has a footprint area of 1560umX2030um. The multi-channel sinusoidal generator was tested using an experimental set-up where the separation of live and dead cells was performed. The experimental set-up consisted of a microfluidic platform with a CarbonDEP micro-channel with 3-dimensional carbon electrodes. Simulations were carried out to reproduce the effects of electrokinetic forces over cells. By choosing specific frequencies, live and dead cells were trapped to one side (port), while only dead cells were attracted to the other port of the micro-channel. This stimulation device can be used in many other electrokinetic tasks to perform characterization, trapping and separation of particles.