Thermal analysis of cell electrorotation chip

Electrorotation is a useful technique for characterizing dielectric properties of individual cells or particles. During electrorotation, a dielectric cell is subjected to a rotating electric field of high frequency, and its rotation speed is monitored. As a high-conductivity buffer is used in the process, heat is generated, which in tum affects cell rotation studies. In this work, we present temperature analysis for a four-electrode electrorotation chip using finite element method. Various conditions including applied voltage, buffer conductivity and chip material were examined. We found that the applied voltage and buffer conductivity were two main factors affecting temperature rise in the electrorotation process.