Sun Meng, Maryu Gembu, Wang Shiyuan, Yang Qiong, Bailey Ryan C
Department of Biophysics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, USA.
Department of Chemistry, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, USA.
Biomicrofluidics. 2021 Apr 5;15(2):024108. doi: 10.1063/5.0047924. eCollection 2021 Mar.
Here, we report a unique microfluidic technique that utilizes a membrane filter and plug-in tubes to remove oil and pack water-in-oil droplets for controlled incubation of droplet-based assays. This technique could be modularly incorporated into most droplet-generation devices without a need to alter the original designs. Our results show that removing excess oil to form tightly packed droplets allows for extended and controllable incubation for droplets traveling in microchannels. The efficiency of this technique was evaluated and confirmed using a time-dependent enzyme assay with a fluorometric readout. The system is also readily generalizable to control inter-droplet distance, crucial for studying droplet communication and pattern formation.
在此，我们报告了一种独特的微流控技术，该技术利用膜过滤器和插入式管子去除油，并将油包水液滴进行封装，以用于基于液滴的分析的可控孵育。这种技术可以模块化地整合到大多数液滴生成装置中，而无需改变其原始设计。我们的结果表明，去除多余的油以形成紧密堆积的液滴，能够使在微通道中流动的液滴进行延长且可控的孵育。使用具有荧光读数的时间依赖性酶分析对该技术的效率进行了评估和确认。该系统也很容易推广用于控制液滴间距离，这对于研究液滴通信和图案形成至关重要。
