Modeling of the dielectrophoretic forces acting upon biological cells: A numerical comparison between Finite Element/Boundary Element Maxwell stress tensor methods and point–dipole approach

Maxwell Stress Tensor (MST) method is investigated in this study to quantify the degree of approximation made with the point–dipole method in respect to dielectrophoresis (DEP) in micro–devices. Latex particles and biological cells immersed in aqueous buffers of various conductivities are considered. The two methods (point–dipole and MST full approaches) are compared using analytical dipolar solutions and numerical ones obtained from the Finite Element (FEM) and the Boundary Element (BEM) methods. Particular emphasis is made on the insufficiency of the point–dipole method in micro–scale issues especially when particles are located near to planar electrode.