Enhancing single-cell encapsulation in droplet microfluidics with fine-tunable on-chip sample enrichment

作     者：Tao Tang Hao Zhao Shaofei Shen Like Yang Chwee Teck Lim 

作者机构：Department of Biomedical EngineeringNational University of Singapore117583 SingaporeSingapore Integrative Sciences and Engineering ProgrammeNUS Graduate SchoolNational University of Singapore119077 SingaporeSingapore Shanxi Key Lab for Modernization of TCVMCollege of Life ScienceShanxi Agricultural UniversityTaiguShanxi 030801China Institute for Health Innovation&TechnologyNational University of Singapore117599 SingaporeSingapore Mechanobiology InstituteNational University of Singapore117411 SingaporeSingapore Institute for Digital Molecular Analytics and ScienceNanyang Technological University636921 SingaporeSingapore 

出 版 物：《Microsystems & Nanoengineering》 (微系统与纳米工程（英文）)

年 卷 期：2024年第10卷第1期

页      面：149-160页

核心收录：

学科分类：0710[理学-生物学] 07[理学] 071009[理学-细胞生物学] 09[农学] 0804[工学-仪器科学与技术] 0805[工学-材料科学与工程（可授工学、理学学位）] 0901[农学-作物学] 090102[农学-作物遗传育种] 

基　　金：supported by the Institute for Health Innovation and Technology (iHealthtech) Mechanobiology Institute and the MechanoBioEngineering Laboratory at the Department of Biomedical Engineering) at the National University of Singapore (NUS) support from the Institute for Digital Molecular Analytics and Science at the Nanyang Technological University 

主　　题：beads outlet sample 

摘      要：Single-cell encapsulation in droplet microfluidics is commonly hindered by the tradeoff between cell suspension density and on-chip focusing *** this study,we introduce a novel droplet microfluidic chip to overcome this *** chip comprises a double spiral focusing unit,a flow resistance-based sample enrichment module with fine-tunable outlets,and a crossflow droplet generation *** a low-density cell/bead suspension(2×10^(6) objects/mL),cells/beads are focused into a near-equidistant linear arrangement within the double spiral *** excess water phase is diverted while cells/beads remain focused and sequentially encapsulated in individual *** performance was assessed through numerical simulations and experiments at three flow rates(40,60,80μL/min),demonstrating successful focusing at 40 and 80μL/min for beads and cells,*** addition,both simulation and experimental results revealed that the flow resistance at the sample enrichment module is adjustable by punching different outlets,allowing over 50%of the aqueous phase to be ***8n-based droplet detection algorithms realized the counting of cells/beads in droplets,statistically demonstrating single-cell and bead encapsulation rates of 72.2%and 79.2%,*** the results indicate that this on-chip sample enrichment approach can be further developed and employed as a critical component in single-cell encapsulation in water-in-oil droplets.