Issue 5, 2024

Open microfluidics: droplet microarrays as next generation multiwell plates for high throughput screening

Abstract

Multiwell plates are prominent in the biological and chemical sciences; however, they face limitations in terms of throughput and deployment in emerging bioengineering fields. Droplet microarrays, as an open microfluidic technology, organise tiny droplets typically in the order of thousands, on an accessible plate. In this perspective, we summarise current approaches for generating droplets, fluid handling on them, and analysis within droplet microarrays. By enabling unique plate engineering opportunities, demonstrating the necessary experimental procedures required for manipulating and interacting with biological cells, and integrating with label-free analytical techniques, droplet microarrays can be deployed across a more extensive experimental domain than what is currently covered by multiwell plates. Droplet microarrays thus offer a solution to the bottlenecks associated with multiwell plates, particularly in the areas of biological cultivation and high-throughput compound screening.

Graphical abstract: Open microfluidics: droplet microarrays as next generation multiwell plates for high throughput screening

Article information

Article type
Perspective
Submitted
30 Nov 2023
Accepted
04 Feb 2024
First published
06 Feb 2024
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY-NC license

Lab Chip, 2024,24, 1064-1075

Open microfluidics: droplet microarrays as next generation multiwell plates for high throughput screening

R. Strutt, B. Xiong, V. F. Abegg and P. S. Dittrich, Lab Chip, 2024, 24, 1064 DOI: 10.1039/D3LC01024D

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