Figure 1.

Device layout description and fabrication. (a) Picture of the microfluidic chip used for the experiments. The chip hosts two symmetrical parallel channels that share the outlet-well used for cell recovery. The blue box indicates the area where the cells are trapped in hydrodynamic sites. (b) Microfluidic layout of the chip. The SU-8 based microfluidic main channels are shown in green, while PDMS control channels are depicted in gray. When a cell enters the chip through inlet 1, it can be directed either towards the traps for immobilization and observation or to the inlet 2 if it needs to be discarded. After release for a trap, a cell can be recovered from the pool at outlet 2 or disposed through the outlet waste. (c) Magnified scanning electron microscopy image of a trap with electrodes embedded in the microfluidic channel. The aperture is 5 µm in width and the electrode extrusion from the microfluidic channel measures approximately 7 µm.