DEP is mainly used for characterising cells measuring the changes in their electrical properties. To do this, many techniques are available to quantify the dielectrophoretic response, as it is not possible to directly measure the DEP force. 
These techniques rely on indirect measures, obtaining a proportional response of the strength and direction of the force that needs to be scaled to the model spectrum. So most models only consider the Clausius-Mossotti factor of a particle. 
The most used techniques are collection rate measurements: this is the simplest and most used technique – electrodes are submerged in a suspension with a known concentration of particles and the particles that collect at the electrode are counted; crossover measurements: the crossover frequency between positive and negative DEP is measured to characterise particles – this technique is used for smaller particles (e.g. viruses), that are difficult to count with the previous technique; particle velocity measurements: this technique measures the velocity and direction of the particles in an electric field gradient; measurement of the levitation height: the levitation height of a particle is proportional to the negative DEP force that is applied. Thus, this technique is good for characterising single particles and is mainly used for larger particles such as cells; impedance sensing: particles collecting at the electrode edge have an influence on the impedance of the electrodes – this change can be monitored to quantify DEP.
In order to study larger populations of cells, the properties can be obtained by analysing the dielectrophoretic spectra.