11:00 AM on Friday, November 20, 2009
Location: 654 Whittemore

Master of Science Defense for Shree Narayanan Sreedharan Nair

Committee Members:
Masoud Agah, Chair
Rafael Davalos, Member
Kathleen Meehan, Member

Abstract:
Biological cells like any other material do conduct electricity. Though they come across as insulators, the resistance to the flow of current i.e. impedance, could be used to characterize the cell itself. In this respect, the impedance of cells can be a significant tool to investigate the state of the cell. A simple way of measuring the impedance would be a planar-microelectrode method. The cells are contained in culture medium while measurements are taken with electrodes fabricated on top of a substrate using micro-fabrication techniques. In this thesis, an effort has been made to measure the impedance of ex-vivo cancer cells. Also, a component of the sensor, the passivation layer has been investigated for its contribution to the measured impedance in a quantitative manner. This measurement will pave the way for better designs in the future to ensure accurate readings of the impedance. Since most of the work has been geared towards a cancer cell line, MDA-MB-231 it is hopeful that a cancer cell signature can be identified in the near future by integrating some interesting observations made in bio-mechanics of the cells and designing the micro-structures accordingly.

Contact: agah(at)vt( dot )edu