Biological Assay of Fresh Waters by a New Method, Dielectrophoresis.

摘要

Rapid and selective methods for assaying cellular organisms in fresh water are being sought by applying the selective effects of nonuniform electric fields. A typical alga,Chlorella vulgaris is readily and quickly collected from fresh water medium by the action of nonuniform field effects (NUFE). This alga exhibits a unique spectrum of response,in which the field response of the organism varies strongly with the applied frequency (100Hz to 4mega Hz). Since the original NUFE methods were essentially either batch or very small volume procedures (e.g. 0.01to 0.5ml),major emphasis has been upon developing continuous treatment techniques more suitable to fresh water problems. This research has developed a successful method called 'stream-centered'continuous dielectrophoresis (SCD). Preliminary tests using living cells have given encouraging results. The method is under active study for it has possibilities of wide application in cell study.