Detachable Acoustophoretic System for Fluorescence-Activated Sorting at the Single-Droplet Level

Area of Science:

• Biotechnology
• Microfluidics
• Single-cell analysis

Background:

• Droplet-based single-cell sequencing is crucial for studying cellular heterogeneity in diseases.
• Current methods suffer from low yield and randomness, hindering high-throughput analysis.
• There is a need for improved droplet generation and isolation techniques.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a novel fluorescence-activated droplet sorting (FADS) system.
• To enhance the accuracy and yield of single-cell droplet isolation.
• To enable high-throughput single-cell analysis with improved efficiency.

Main Methods:

• Utilized highly focused surface acoustic wave (HFSAW) technology with a narrow beam width (around 50 μm).
• Employed a micropillar waveguide structure for localized acoustic wave coupling into the microfluidic channel.
• Designed a detachable system allowing single-use microfluidic channels to prevent cross-contamination.

Main Results:

• Achieved high-purity single-cell droplet isolation (>90%) at a sorting rate of approximately 1 kHz.
• Demonstrated effective sorting of uniformly sized droplets (around 40 μm).
• Enabled sorting of small particles down to submicrometer size, surpassing existing systems.

Conclusions:

• The developed acoustic FADS system significantly improves single-cell droplet isolation efficiency and accuracy.
• This technology addresses the limitations of current methods for high-throughput single-cell sequencing.
• The system offers a reusable and contamination-free solution for advanced cellular analysis.