Patent ID: 6964735

Claim:
A method for separating different charged particles in a medium employing an electrical field, said method comprising: providing a device comprising (a) a substrate having an upper surface, (b) a main trench in the substrate extending downward from the upper surface, (c) a plurality of electrodes positioned at intervals along the trench such as to be in electrical contact with a medium when present in the trench, the plurality of electrodes being connected to an electronic computer programmed to sequentially activate electrodes to provide electrical field waves that move along the trench at a speed, and (d) an optical detection device positioned along the trench to detect charged particles in the medium in the trench, the optical detection device being interactive with the electronic computer so that the speed of the electrical field waves can be adjusted based on charged particles detected by the optical detection device; placing a sample of the charged particles into the medium in the device; and separating the different charged particles by electrical field waves having speeds determined by the electronic computer in interaction with the optical detection device.