Issue 16, 2012

High-yield cell ordering and deterministic cell-in-droplet encapsulation using Dean flow in a curved microchannel

Abstract

In this article high-yield (77%) and high-speed (2700 cells sāˆ’1) single cell droplet encapsulation is described using a Dean-coupled inertial ordering of cells in a simple curved continuous microchannel. By introducing the Dean force, the particles will order to one equilibrium position after travelling less than 1 cm. We use a planar curved microchannel structure in PDMS to spatially order two types of myeloid leukemic cells (HL60 and K562 cells), enabling deterministic single cell encapsulation in picolitre drops. An efficiency of up to 77% was reached, overcoming the limitations imposed by Poisson statistics for random cell loading, which yields only 37% of drops containing a single cell. Furthermore, we confirm that > 90% of the cells remain viable. The simple planar structure and high throughput provided by this passive microfluidic approach makes it attractive for implementation in lab on a chip (LOC) devices for single cell applications using droplet-based platforms.

Graphical abstract: High-yield cell ordering and deterministic cell-in-droplet encapsulation using Dean flow in a curved microchannel

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
04 Phe 2012
Accepted
24 Mme 2012
First published
26 Mme 2012

Lab Chip, 2012,12, 2881-2887

High-yield cell ordering and deterministic cell-in-droplet encapsulation using Dean flow in a curved microchannel

E. W. M. Kemna, R. M. Schoeman, F. Wolbers, I. Vermes, D. A. Weitz and A. van den Berg, Lab Chip, 2012, 12, 2881 DOI: 10.1039/C2LC00013J

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