Low Cost, Easily-Assembled Centrifugal Buoyancy-Based Emulsification and Digital PCR

Overview

Journal Micromachines (Basel)

Publisher MDPI

Date 2022 Feb 25

PMID 35208296

Authors

Wuping Zhou

Cong Liu

Tao Zhang

Keming Jiang

Haiwen Li

Zhiqiang Zhang

Yuguo Tang

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Microfluidic-based droplet generation approaches require the design of microfluidic chips and a precise lithography process, which require skilled technicians and a long manufacturing time. Here we developed a centrifugal buoyancy-based emulsification (CBbE) method for producing droplets with high efficiency and minimal fabrication time. Our approach is to fabricate a droplet generation module that can be easily assembled using syringe needles and PCR tubes. With this module and a common centrifuge, high-throughput droplet generation with controllable droplet size could be realized in a few minutes. Experiments showed that the droplet diameter depended mainly on centrifugal speed, and droplets with controllable diameter from 206 to 158 μm could be generated under a centrifugal acceleration range from 14 to 171.9 . Excellent droplet uniformity was achieved (CV < 3%) when centrifugal acceleration was greater than 108 . We performed digital PCR tests through the CBbE approach and demonstrated that this cost-effective method not only eliminates the usage of complex microfluidic devices and control systems but also greatly suppresses the loss of materials and cross-contamination. CBbE-enabled droplet generation combines both easiness and robustness, and breaks the technical challenges by using conventional lab equipment and supplies.

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