Automated System for Small-Population Single-Particle Processing Enabled by Exclusive Liquid Repellency.

Journal: SLAS technology
PMID: 31180792

Abstract

Exclusive liquid repellency (ELR) describes an extreme wettability phenomenon in which a liquid phase droplet is completely repelled from a solid phase when exposed to a secondary immiscible liquid phase. Earlier, we developed a multi-liquid-phase open microfluidic (or underoil) system based on ELR to facilitate rare-cell culture and single-cell processing. The ELR system can allow for the handling of small volumes of liquid droplets with ultra-low sample loss and biofouling, which makes it an attractive platform for biological applications that require lossless manipulation of rare cellular samples (especially for a limited sample size in the range of a few hundred to a few thousand cells). Here, we report an automated platform using ELR microdrops for single-particle (or single-cell) isolation, identification, and retrieval. This was accomplished via the combined use of a robotic liquid handler, an automated microscopic imaging system, and real-time image-processing software for single-particle identification. The automated ELR technique enables rapid, hands-free, and robust isolation of microdrop-encapsulated rare cellular samples.

Authors

  • Chao Li
    McGill University Health Centre, McGill Adult Unit for Congenital Heart Disease Excellence, Montreal, Québec, Canada.
  • David J Niles
    Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA.
  • Duane S Juang
    Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA.
  • Joshua M Lang
    Division of Hematology/Medical Oncology, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI.
  • David J Beebe
    Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA.

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