Microfluidics Using Spatially Defined Arrays of Droplets in One, Two, and Three Dimensions
Abstract
Spatially defined arrays of droplets differ from bulk emulsions in that droplets in arrays can be indexed on the basis of one or more spatial variables to enable identification, monitoring, and addressability of individual droplets. Spatial indexing is critical in experiments with hundreds to millions of unique compartmentalized microscale processes—for example, in applications such as digital measurements of rare events in a large sample, high-throughput time-lapse studies of the contents of individual droplets, and controlled droplet-droplet interactions. This review describes approaches for spatially organizing and manipulating droplets in one-, two-, and three-dimensional structured arrays, including aspiration, laminar flow, droplet traps, the SlipChip, self-assembly, and optical or electrical fields. This review also presents techniques to analyze droplets in arrays and applications of spatially defined arrays, including time-lapse studies of chemical, enzymatic, and cellular processes, as well as further opportunities in chemical, biological, and engineering sciences, including perturbation/response experiments and personal and point-of-care diagnostics.
Additional Information
Copyright 2011 by Annual Reviews. First published online as a Review in Advance on March 1, 2011. DISCLOSURE STATEMENT: The authors are listed as coinventors on University of Chicago patents or patent applications for some methods presented in this review. All authors may receive royalties from licensing University of Chicago patents or patent applications for some methods presented in this review. R.F.I. has an equity stake in SlipChip, LLC. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS: The authors' work in this area was supported by the National Institutes of Health (grants U54 GM074961 and 1DP1 OD003584) and the Office of Naval Research (grant N00014-08-1-0936). We thank Heidi Park for contributions to the writing and editing of this manuscript. We thank Liang Ma, Jason Kreutz, and Liang Li for suggestions of literature to include and Megan E. Vincent for help with Table 1.Additional details
- Eprint ID
- 40855
- Resolver ID
- CaltechAUTHORS:20130821-160729192
- U54 GM074961
- NIH
- 1DP1 OD003584)
- NIH
- N00014-08-1-0936
- ONR
- Created
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2013-08-23Created from EPrint's datestamp field
- Updated
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2021-11-10Created from EPrint's last_modified field