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Updated: Jun 6, 2025

Capillary-based Centrifugal Microfluidic Device for Size-controllable Formation of Monodisperse Microdroplets
Published on: February 22, 2016
Automated Dynamic Inlet Microfluidics (ADIM) system: cost-effective biaxial nanoliter droplet on demand generation
Abdul Basit Zia1, Ian G Foulds1
1School of Engineering, The University of British Columbia, Okanagan Campus, Kelowna, BC, Canada. abdulbasit.zia@ubc.ca.
Abstract:
The paper demonstrates an adaptation of a Prusa Mini+ 3D printer through the integration of 3D printed modules, creating a system capable of producing varied droplets from multiple Eppendorf tubes. Building upon our previous model, this system enhances calibration methodology enabling any fused deposition modeling (FDM) printer to produce mono-disperse droplets (coefficient of variance (CV%) <2% for train of 100 droplets) with 6900 assays per hour rate. The cost of the developed system is 85% lower than that of existing droplet generation solutions on the market, and 30% more economical than the previous iteration of the system. Additionally, the system's utility in quantification of agglutination assays is highlighted using image analysis, capable of distinguishing between agglutinated and non-agglutinated samples. By offering significant savings and ease of use, this system aims to lower the barriers to entry for microfluidic research, potentially broadening the scope of scientific exploration and application in this field.

