Label-free impedance detection of low levels of circulating endothelial progenitor cells for point-of-care diagnosis.

This paper presents a novel microfluidic system for rapid label-free detection of endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) from small volumes of white blood cells samples, to obtain a bedside cardiovascular diagnostic solution. The system was built on a single 1 cm(2) microelectrode array silicon chip, integrated with negative dielectrophoresis for cell trapping, surface immunochemistry for selective cell capture, and fluidics for cell washing and impedance detection. The level of circulating EPC level in blood is a biomarker of clinical interest, linked to the assessment of risk factors in cardiovascular diseases which are a major global concern.