System and method for performing droplet inflation
AssigneeBio-Rad Laboratories, Inc.
InventorsTony Hung, Adnan Esmail, Sepehr Kiani
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Abstract
The present invention generally pertains to a system for performing droplet inflation, and methods and kits comprising the same. The system comprises at least one microfluidic channel comprising one or more droplets flowing therein, one or more fluid reservoirs, one or more inflators, one or more inflator nozzles, and at least one mechanism for disrupting an interface between a droplet and a fluid. The present invention provides for the inflation of a relatively controlled volume of fluid into a droplet resulting in an increase in the volume of the droplet relative to its volume prior to inflation and, accordingly, dilution of the concentration of species, if any, previously present and emulsified in the droplet.
Claims11
A system for performing droplet inflation, comprising
- at least one microfluidic channel;
- a series of inflators, wherein each inflator comprises at least one inflator nozzle at an inflation interface associated with a location on the microfluidic channel and is associated with a different pair of electrodes, wherein
- a first inflator in the series is located at a first location on the microchannel wherein said first location comprises a first region of expansion at the inflation interfaces such that a cross-sectional area of the microfluidic channel at the inflation interface expands to accommodate inflated droplets;
- and
- a second inflator in the series is located at a second location on the microchannel wherein said second location comprises a second region of expansion at the inflation interfaces such that a cross-sectional area of the microfluidic channel at the inflation interface expands to accommodate inflated droplets.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.