Nano-liter droplet libraries from a pipette: step emulsificator that stabilizes droplet volume against variation in flow rate
Nano-liter droplet libraries from a pipette: step emulsificator that stabilizes droplet volume against variation in flow rate
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DOI：
10.1039/c6lc00265j
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发表时间：
2016-01-01
期刊：
影响因子：
6.1
通讯作者：
Garstecki, Piotr
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Dutka, Filip;Opalski, Adam S.;Garstecki, Piotr
许多现代分析测定，例如液滴数字 PCR，或筛选单细胞或单个突变基因的特性，需要将液体样品分成许多小的（通常体积约为纳升）独立的隔室或液滴。这就需要一种方法，能够将小（微升）液体样品分割成纳升液滴库，而不会产生任何死体积或浪费。分步乳化允许仅需要输送样品液体的简便方案，但它们通常表现出液滴尺寸对样品注射速率的依赖性。在这里，我们报告了一种新型微流体连接，可以减少液滴体积对注射速率的依赖性。我们还证明了通过将分散相从自动移液器仅引入系统来生成紧密单分散的纳升液滴。这里提出的方法可以很容易地使用，并且可以取代通常用于从液体样品生成纳升液滴库的复杂设备。
Many modern analytical assays, for example, droplet digital PCR, or screening of the properties of single cells or single mutated genes require splitting a liquid sample into a number of small (typically ca. nano-liter in volume) independent compartments or droplets. This calls for a method that would allow splitting small (microliter) samples of liquid into libraries of nano-liter droplets without any dead volume or waste. Step emulsification allows for facile protocols that require delivery of only the sample liquid, yet they typically exhibit dependence of the droplet size on the rate at which the sample is injected. Here, we report a novel microfluidic junction that reduces the dependence of the volume of droplets on the rate of injection. We also demonstrate generation of tightly monodisperse nanoliter droplets by introduction of solely the dispersed phase into the system from an automatic pipette. The method presented here can readily be used and can replace the sophisticated devices typically used to generate libraries of nano-liter droplets from liquid samples.