Automatic droplet size regulator
Automatic regulation of droplet size, producing monodisperse droplets
Droplet detection and size regulation at a production rate of up to 10 kHz
Droplets with C.V. < 0.2%
Droplet size regulator attributes
- High sample rate: 100 000 samples/s
- Detect ALL droplets: from 10 to 300µm, at 1 Hz to 10 kHz of production rate
- Compact design: the use of optical fiber allows low footprint and versatile integration
- Plug & Play: USB computer connection, empowered by the Elveflow software suite (ESI)
- Interoperability: TTL source trigger
Droplet detection
This video illustrates how the droplet regulator detects and measures the size of the droplets containing fluorescent targets and regulates their size. On the right side, the studied microfluidic chip is visualized, showing the generation and transport of droplets. The Droplet detector generates a light spot at the fluidic channel to probe the fluorescence of these droplets as they move across the illuminated area.
Next, the collected signal from the droplets is visualized and analyzed (statistics on the size, speed, and fluorescent intensity) on the left panels. Here, such information is fed back to the pressure control system (lower center panel) to adjust to applied pressure and regulate droplet size.
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant agreement No 796514 (AutoDropProd).
Droplet size regulation with fluorescence
Droplet generation has a wide application range, including emulsion production, single-cell analysis, drug delivery, and nanoparticle synthesis. Droplets can also be used as micro-bioreactors for chemical or biochemical reactions.
During the application, tracking and probing the individual droplets is essential. The Droplet Detector offers a light-based, non-invasive, sensitive, high-throughput, and convenient way to achieve this goal.
The Droplet detector for microfluidics brings the strength of optical fiber measurement, high visual sensitivity, and real-time processing capacity within a compact design. The use of optical fiber for both illumination and light collection essentially frees up the space around the experiment and reduces the optical alignment to only one step.
Application fields of the automatic droplet size regulator
Microfluidics, beauty industry, analytical or biochemistry, biology (single cell encapsulation), real-time inspection (food, pharmaceutics), aerospace, etc.
- Droplets counting
- Micro-particles detection
- Uniform droplet production
- Microparticle detection
- Measure fluorescent residence time distribution
References
- Klein, S.G., Alsolami, S.M., Steckbauer, A. et al. A prevalent neglect of environmental control in mammalian cell culture calls for best practices. Nat Biomed Eng 5, 787–792 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41551-021-00775-0
- Michl, J., Park, K. C. & Swietach, P. Evidence-based guidelines for controlling pH in mammalian live-cell culture systems. Commun. Biol. 2019 21 2, 1–12 (2019).
- Cooper, J. CO2 concentration and pH control in the cell culture laboratory. Culture Collections, 2019. Accessed on 22nd November 2022.
- Lu, C. & Verbridge, S. S. Microfluidic methods for molecular biology. Microfluid. Methods Mol. Biol. 1–376 (2016). doi:10.1007/978-3-319-30019-1
Specifications table
| PROPERTIES | SPECIFICATION | Unity |
|---|---|---|
| Excitation wavelength | 365, 470, 530, 590, 625 | nm |
| Fluorescence filter Set | DAPI, FITC, TRITC, Texas Red, Cy3, Cy5, etc | |
| Light output intensity | 0-1.5 | mW |
| Pulse duration (pulse mode) | 10-107 | µs |
| Modulation (Lock-in mode) | 0.05 -10 | kHz |
| Acquisition frequency | 0-100 | kHz |
| Acquisition resolution | 16 | bits |
| Typ. acquisition dynamic | 84 dB | dB |
| Fiber core diameter | 50, 100, 200, 400 | µm |
| Numerical aperture | 0.22 – 0.6 | |
| Focalized spot diameter | 35, 75, 150, 300 | µm |
| Dimension | 35 x 25 x 12 | cm³ |
Other details:
- Detection limit : <1nM FITC (available option with photon counting capability).
- Other wavelength and focalized spot diameter available on request.
- These specifications are not contractual and can be changed without notice.
ESI software
Thanks to an intuitive interface, the Elveflow® Smart Interface enables the use of Elveflow® instruments, from the most straightforward commands for beginners to the most complex manipulations for experts.
Control your experiments through C, Python, Matlab®, Labview®, or the ESI.
