Automatic Droplet Size Regulator
Produce, detect & control the size of your droplets in real-time
Automatize monodisperse droplet production
Automatic regulation of droplet size, producing monodisperse droplets
High speed optical droplet detector and regulator
Droplet detection and size regulation at a production rate of up to 10 kHz
Produce uniform droplets every time
Droplets with C.V. < 0.2%
Need a microfluidic SME partner for your Horizon Europe project?
Automatic droplet size regulator
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
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
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
Automatic droplet size technical specifications
| Properties | Technical Specifications | Unit |
|---|---|---|
| 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.
Software
Software operability: standalone GUI for data visualization and logging; optional Python API
Products & Associated Accessories
FAQ - Automatic droplet size regulator
What is the use of the Automatic Droplet Size Regulator?
The automatic droplet size regulator is used to produce uniform monodisperse droplets with a droplet detector and size regulator system. The droplet regulator detects and measures the size of the droplets containing fluorescent targets and regulates their size. The microfluidic chip is guiding the generation and transport of droplets. The Droplet detector generates a soft spot at the fluidic channel to probe the fluorescence of these droplets as they move across the illuminated area.
What types of research applications benefit from droplet size regulation?
Following research applications benefit from droplet size regulation:
-Single-cell encapsulation
-Drug discovery
-Biochemical reactions
-Nanoparticle synthesis
-Emulsion production
How does the droplet size regulation system pack work?
It uses a high-speed optical detector system to measure droplets as they travel through an illuminated section of the microfluidic channel. The software analyzes the detected indication, and the pressure control system automatically modifies flow conditions to maintain the required droplet size.
What rates of droplet production is the regulator able to manage?
The droplet production regulator handles rates from 1 Hz up to 10 kHz in both low-throughput experiments and high-throughput microfluidic applications. With the help of this experiment, researchers can quickly produce droplets with a uniform size distribution.
What droplet size range can be detected by the Automatic Droplet Size Regulator?
The system can identify droplet size with diameters ranging from around 10 µm to 300 µm. This detection range makes the controller compatible with emulsions, particle synthesis, and cell encapsulation types of droplet-based microfluidic experimentations.
Can this system easily be integrated into existing microfluidic setups?
Yes, The system is simple and easy to integrate with current microfluidic setups with small optical fiber design and plug-and-play USB connectivity. It can link with external devices by TTL triggering and work with software for automation, logging, and real-time data display.
