Dielectrophoretic manipulation of exosomes in a multi-section microfluidic device

Exosomes are a specific population of extracellular vesicles that because of their critical physiology have become of great interest in biomedical research. However, their isolation from complex biological fluids remains a difficult task. In this context, microfluidic devices offer the advantages of miniaturization and are considered an innovative strategy for their bioseparation. In this work, we present a multi-section microfluid device for exosome isolation by means of insulator-based dielectrophoresis. Our results show that exosome manipulation within the microchannel is possible, as streaming dielectrophoresis was achieved. Further device optimization is required to obtain exosome trapping for further studies and functionalization. (C) 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.