Patent ID: 7811439

Claim:
An apparatus for concentrating and separating particles in water, comprising: an ultrafiltration (“UF”) module comprising a feed port, at least one filtrate port, a retentate port, and a filtering media comprising a molecular weight cut-off (“MWCO”) smaller than an average mean diameter of a particle of interest, wherein a volume of water comprising particles having an average mean diameter greater than said MWCO are retained and concentrated in said UF module; an insulator-based dielectrophoresis (“iDEP”) module comprising: a plurality of fluid flow channels disposed on a substrate, wherein each of said fluid flow channels comprises a fluid inlet and a fluid outlet and a plurality of insulating flow structures disposed on said substrate, wherein each of said fluid inlets is separately connected to a first inlet manifold means, and wherein each of said fluid outlets is separately connected to a first outlet manifold means; electrodes in electrical communication with the fluid inlet and outlet of each of the plurality of fluid flow channels, wherein the electrodes are positioned to generate a spatially non-uniform electric field across the plurality of insulating flow structures of each fluid flow channel, and wherein the spatially non-uniform electric field exerts a dielectrophoretic force on particles suspended in a quantity of water passing through each of the fluid flow channels; and power supply means connected to each of the electrodes to generate an electric field within said fluid flow channel; and conduit means disposed between the UF retentate port and the iDEP first inlet manifold means, wherein the UF module is placed in fluid communication with the iDEP module.