Microfluidic Time-Division Multiplexing Accessing Resistive Pulse Sensor for Particle Analysis

Due to its simplicity and robustness, pore-based resistive pulse sensors have been widely used to detect, measure, and analyze particles at length scales ranging from nanometers to micrometers. While multiple pore-based resistive pulse sensors are preferred to increase the analysis throughput and to overcome the clogging issues, the scalability is often limited. In response, by combining the time-division multiple access technique in the telecommunication field with the microfluidics, we reported a microfluidic time-division multiplexing accessing (TDMA) single-end resistive pulse sensor, in which particles can be analyzed through a scalable number of microfluidic channels. With an eight-channel microfluidic device and polystyrene particles as proof-of-principle, we successfully demonstrated this multiplexed technology is effective in measuring the particle size and concentration, in analyzing the particle arriving dynamics, and in discriminating mixed populations. Importantly, the availability of multiple sensing pores provides a robust mechanism to overcome the clogging issue, allowing the analysis to continue even when some of the pores are clogged. We anticipate this TDMA approach could find wide applications and facilitate future development of multiplexed resistive pulse sensing from the microscale to nanoscale.