Microfluidic system and method for sorting cell clusters and for the continuous encapsulation thereof following sorting thereof

A microfluidic system comprising a substrate in which an array of microchannels comprising a cell sorting unit is etched and around which a protective cover is bonded, wherein the sorting unit comprises deflection means capable of separating, during the flow thereof, relatively noncohesive cell clusters, each of size ranging from 20 μm to 500 μm and of 20 to 10 000 cells approximately, such as islets of Langerhans,

• at least two sorting microchannels arranged in parallel at the outlet of said unit being respectively configured to transport as many categories of sorted clusters to a unit for encapsulation of the latter, also formed in said array,
• said sorting unit comprising at least one stage for size-sorting said clusters which is configured to generate in said sorting microchannels respectively at least two size categories for said sorted clusters, said encapsulation unit comprising a plurality of encapsulation subunits respectively arranged in parallel in communication with said sorting microchannels, each encapsulation subunit being configured to encapsulate a size category of sorted clusters circulating in a corresponding sorting microchannel.