Magnetic levitation for non-contact manipulation and measurement of cells

Abstract

Non-contact manipulation and measurement of cells are the major concerns in the biomedical field. However, the existing methods are limited by the physical properties of cells, and may cause damages to the cells. This paper proposes an original non-contact manipulation and measurement method by magnetic levitation. Based on the configuration of two ring magnets with like poles facing each other, the cells can aggregate and levitate in the paramagnetic medium. The mathematical model was established to analyze the distributions of magnetic fields and movements of cells for the first time. Theoretical and experimental results show that the magnetic levitation method can be adaptive to the cells by tuning the size of the configuration. The three-dimensional cell clusters were formed and the average densities of 3T3, MDA, B16 and 4T1 cells were measured as 1.074 ± 0.005 g/cm3, 1.084 ± 0.003 g/cm3, 1.079 ± 0.002 g/cm3 and 1.124 ± 0.003 g/cm3 respectively. Moreover, the dead cells and living cells were distinguished based on the levitating heights. The results indicate that the proposed magnetic levitation method is promising for the three-dimensional culture and rapid measurement of cells.