A centrifugal microfluidic emulsifier integrated with oil storage structures for robust digital LAMP

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Engineering
• Microfluidics
• Molecular Diagnostics

Background:

• Centrifugal droplet microfluidics are used in diagnostics.
• Droplets in these devices often coalesce due to thin oil films, especially during thermal processes.
• Droplet coalescence hinders accurate analysis and diagnostics.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a new microfluidic device design to prevent droplet coalescence.
• To enable stable monodisperse droplet generation and storage for improved analysis.
• To apply the device for sensitive DNA amplification and mutation detection.

Main Methods:

• Designed a centrifugal emulsifier for uniform droplet generation.
• Integrated oil-storage structures (OSSs) to regulate oil film thickness and prevent coalescence.
• Optimized OSS shape and size for improved performance.
• Utilized the device for droplet digital loop mediated isothermal amplification (ddLAMP).

Main Results:

• Achieved uniform droplet generation with the centrifugal emulsifier.
• OSSs successfully stored and released oil, preventing droplet coalescence during thermal incubation.
• Demonstrated successful detection of JAK2 V617F mutation in myeloproliferative neoplasms.
• Established a dynamic detection range of 10^1 to 10^4 copies per μL.

Conclusions:

• The novel microfluidic device effectively prevents droplet coalescence using OSSs.
• The system is simple, robust, inexpensive, and easy to operate.
• The technology is highly applicable for DNA amplification in point-of-care settings.
• Enables sensitive detection of specific DNA mutations.