Method and system for ultra-high dynamic range nucleic acid quantification

A system for quantifying nucleic acids in a sample comprising:

• a microfluidic droplet generating device, the microfluidic droplet generating device comprising a droplet generating region formed by an intersection of pinching oil channels and an aqueous reagent channel, a plurality of droplet splitting branch channels, and a collection chamber dimensioned to receive a two dimensional array of droplets;
• a thermal cycler in thermal communication with the collection chamber of the microfluidic chamber;
• an illumination source configured to illuminate the array of droplets with excitation light;
• an imaging device focused on the array of droplets, the imaging device capturing fluorescent radiation emitted from droplets contained in the collection chamber;
• and
• at least one processor configured to calculate an initial concentration of nucleic acid in the sample based on at least one of:
• a ratio of droplets exhibiting fluorescence within the array at a thermal cycle endpoint or a cycle threshold (Ct) of one or more droplets within the array.