微流控液滴操控技术及其生物分析应用

作为一种新兴的分析技术,液滴微流控在生物分析研究方面具有诸多优势。因此,开展液滴微流控技术及其生物分析应用相关的研究工作,受到研究者广泛的关注。本文重点对微流控中液滴的操控技术,以及液滴微流控生物分析应用进展进行总结和评述。     

液滴微流控系统在数字聚合酶链式反应中的应用研究进展

数字聚合酶链式反应( PCR)技术近年来发展迅速。与以实时荧光定量PCR为代表的传统PCR技术相比,数字PCR技术显著提高了定量分析的精确度和灵敏度。数字PCR的快速发展与近年来微流控技术在数字PCR技术中的广泛应用有着密切的联系。早期的研究和商业化产品使用的是大规模集成流路微流控芯片,加工过程复杂且价格高昂。近年来,液滴微流控芯片被应用到数字PCR技术中,它可以在短时间内产生102~107个微液滴,每一个微液滴都是最多只含有一个目的基因片段的PCR反应器。 PCR扩增后,通过对单个微液滴的观察计数,就可以获得绝对定量的分析数据。本文综述了不同种类的液滴微流控系统在数字PCR技术中的应用,以及液滴数字PCR微流控芯片在生物、医药、环境等领域的应用。     

多相微流控分析与毛细管电泳研究进展

简要介绍了近期在多相微流控分析和毛细管电泳领域的一些最新研究进展,包括实现高分辨纳流液相色谱-质谱分析的微流控液滴阵列技术,采用高灵敏生物传感检测的微流控液滴单细胞膜蛋白分析技术,以及用于毛细管电泳系统的通道表面改性技术及其相关应用。     

微流控液滴技术及其应用的研究进展

微液滴具有体积小、比表面积大,速度快、通量高,大小均匀、体系封闭,内部稳定等特性,在药物控释、病毒检测、颗粒材料合成、催化剂等领域中均有重要应用.微流控技术的发展为微液滴生成中实现尺寸规格、结构形貌和功能特性等的可控设计和精确操控提供了全新平台.本文概述了微流控液滴技术的基本原理、液滴生成方式及其基本操控,比较分析了微液滴的传统制备法与微流控合成法的异同,介绍了近年来微流控液滴技术在功能材料合成、生物医学和食品加工等领域中的研究新进展,探讨并展望了微流控液滴技术的潜在价值和未来发展方向.     

基于微流体脉冲驱动控制技术的电化学微流控芯片制备方法

基于微流体脉冲驱动控制技术搭建了电化学微流控芯片的制备系统.首先将纳米银墨水和甘油溶液分别微喷射到玻璃基底表面形成微电极图形和微流道液体阳模图形;然后分别进行烧结和聚二甲基硅氧烷(PDMS)模塑工艺制得微电极和微流道;最后将微电极和微流道键合形成电化学微流控芯片.研究了系统参量对液滴产生的影响以及液滴直径和重叠率对液滴成线的影响,制得的微电极最小线宽为45 μm、厚度为2.2 μm、电阻率为5.2 μΩ·cm,制得的微流道最小线宽为35 μm,流道表面光滑.采用制得的电化学微流控芯片进行了葡萄糖浓度的电化学流动检测.结果表明,葡萄糖溶液的浓度与响应电流具有较高的线性关系,可对一定浓度范围内的葡萄糖溶液进行定量检测.基于微流体脉冲驱动控制技术的电化学微流控芯片制备方法具有微喷射精度高、重复性好,制备系统结构简单、成本低廉等优点,可用于生化分析、生物传感器等领域的芯片制备.     

微流控液滴软模板制备二氧化钛中空微球

应用微流控液滴技术合成功能材料已发展成为一个新兴领域。本文以夹流结构微流控芯片产生的微液滴作为软模板,以液滴模板界面处发生的水解反应生成二氧化钛球壳,并经后续脱核处理,制备二氧化钛中空微球。采用激光诱导荧光成像、扫描电镜等手段对微球形貌结构进行了分析表征。结果表明,通过控制微流控芯片液滴合成条件,可以得到壁厚约2 μm的二氧化钛中空微球。这种以微流控液滴为模板的合成方法简单灵活,若与其他材料改性方法相结合,有望实现对更多元、更复杂功能微球材料的制备,并进一步拓宽其在光电和催化剂材料领域的应用。     

微液滴微流控芯片:微液滴的形成、操纵和应用

微流控芯片中形成的微液滴粒径均一、可控,与传统的连续流体系相比,具有能实现试剂的快速混合、通量更高等优点.本文介绍了微流控芯片中由微通道控制的微液滴的形成、分裂、合并、混合、分选和捕获等微液滴操纵技术,以及微液滴技术在纳米粒子、聚合物微粒的合成、纳米粒子自组装、蛋白质结晶研究和DNA、细胞分析等领域的研究进展.     

集成式微流控液滴数字化等温扩增用于尿路感染细菌快速检测

数字化核酸分析技术具有不依赖标准品的绝对定量分析能力,因而有利于实现病原分子的快速诊断。现有的数字化核酸分析方法通常采用离线式分析,操作繁琐且耗时较长,难以满足医疗资源有限情况下的检测需求。本研究建立了一种集成式微流控液滴数字化等温扩增方法。采用的微流控芯片集成了序列液滴核酸提取、负压驱动液滴生成和液滴环介导等温扩增(LAMP)功能,可采用集成化方式在1.5 h内完成细菌核酸数字化分析。此微流控芯片对大肠埃希氏菌的核酸提取效率为93.68%±32.38%;使用注射器负压驱动可在4 min内生成约20000个液滴,液滴体积的相对标准偏差(RSD)小于10%;液滴数字化LAMP检测动态范围跨越4个数量级(2.36×10⁴～1.71×10⁷ CFU/mL)。利用本方法检测尿路感染临床标本(n=13)中的大肠埃希菌,与传统定量培养方法结果相比较,本方法的检测灵敏度和特异性均为100%(K_appa=1,p<0.01)。本方法具有操作简便、定量分析准确的优点,为病原体的现场快速检测提供了一种有力的工具。     

液滴微流控技术在生物医学中的应用进展

液滴微流控是微流控芯片领域的一个重要分支,由于其诸多独特优势而得到了广泛的应用与研究.本文将概述液滴微流控的特点和基本原理,同时对近年来其在生物医学中的应用进行了简要综述,并展望了液滴微流控技术的发展前景.     

基于液滴技术的微流控芯片实验室

液滴微流控系统是微流控芯片领域的一个新的分支,由于其诸多独特的优势而得到了广泛的研究和报道。本文对液滴的制备和相关的操控技术,包括液滴的分裂、融合、混合、分选、存储和编码等进行了介绍,对液滴技术近年来在化学与生物化学分析等领域中的应用进行了综述,并展望了液滴微流控技术的发展前景。     

微流控芯片液滴生成与检测技术研究进展

微流控芯片液滴技术是一种操控微小体积液体的新技术,既可实现高通量微观样本的生成及控制,也可进行独立液滴的操作.分散的微液滴单元可作为理想的微反应器,在生物医药中的药物筛选、材料筛选和高附加值微颗粒材料合成领域展现出巨大的应用潜力.液滴微流控芯片是利用流体剪切力的改变,使互不相溶的两相流体在其界面处生成稳定、有序的液滴,...     

Fast on-demand droplet fusion using transient cavitation bubbles

A method for on-demand droplet fusion in a microfluidic channel is presented using the flow created from a single explosively expanding cavitation bubble. We test the technique for water-in-oil droplets, which are produced using a T-junction design in a microfluidic chip. The cavitation bubble is created with a pulsed laser beam focused into one droplet. High-speed photography of the dynamics reveals that the droplet fusion can be induced within a few tens of microseconds and is caused by the rapid thinning of the continuous phase film separating the droplets. The cavitation bubble collapses and re-condenses into the droplet. Droplet fusion is demonstrated for static and moving droplets, and for droplets of equal and unequal sizes. Furthermore, we reveal the diffusion dominated mixing flow and the transport of a single encapsulated cell into a fused droplet. This laser-based droplet fusion technique may find applications in micro-droplet based chemical synthesis and bioassays.     

Development of Microdroplet Generation Method for Organic Solvents Used in Chemical Synthesis

Recently, chemical operations with microfluidic devices, especially droplet-based operations, have attracted considerable attention because they can provide an isolated small-volume reaction field. However, analysis of these operations has been limited mostly to aqueous-phase reactions in water droplets due to device material restrictions. In this study, we have successfully demonstrated droplet formation of five common organic solvents frequently used in chemical synthesis by using a simple silicon/glass-based microfluidic device. When an immiscible liquid with surfactant was used as the continuous phase, the organic solvent formed droplets similar to water-in-oil droplets in the device. In contrast to conventional microfluidic devices composed of resins, which are susceptible to swelling in organic solvents, the developed microfluidic device did not undergo swelling owing to the high chemical resistance of the constituent materials. Therefore, the device has potential applications for various chemical reactions involving organic solvents. Furthermore, this droplet generation device enabled control of droplet size by adjusting the liquid flow rate. The droplet generation method proposed in this work will contribute to the study of organic reactions in microdroplets and will be useful for evaluating scaling effects in various chemical reactions.     

Proteolysis in microfluidic droplets: an approach to interface protein separation and peptide mass spectrometry

A versatile microreactor protocol based on microfluidic droplets has been developed for on-line protein digestion. Proteins separated by liquid chromatography are fractionated in water-in-oil droplets and digested in sequence. The microfluidic reactor acts also as an electrospray ionization emitter for mass spectrometry analysis of the peptides produced in the individual droplets. Each droplet is an enzymatic micro-reaction unit with efficient proteolysis due to rapid mixing, enhanced mass transfer and automated handling. This droplet approach eliminates sample loss, cross-contamination, non-specific absorption and memory effect. A protein mixture was successfully identified using the droplet-based micro-reactor as interface between reverse phase liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry.     

Highly productive droplet formation by anisotropic elongation of a thread flow in a microchannel

We developed a microfluidic device to form monodisperse droplets with high productivity by anisotropic elongation of a thread flow, defined as a threadlike flow of a dispersed liquid phase in a flow of an immiscible, continuous liquid phase. The thread flow was anisotropically elongated in the depth direction in a straight microchannel with a step, where the microchannel depth changed. Consequently, the elongated thread flow was given capillary instability (Rayleigh-Plateau instability) and was continuously transformed into monodisperse droplets at the downstream area of the step in the microchannel. We examined the effects of the flow rates of the dispersed phase and the continuous phase on the droplet formation behavior, including the droplet diameter and droplet formation frequency. The droplet diameter increased as the fraction of the dispersed-phase flow rate relative to the total flow rate increased and was independent of the total flow rate. The droplet formation frequency proportionally increased with the total flow rate at a constant dispersed-phase flow rate fraction. These results are explained in terms of a mechanism similar to that of droplet formation from a cylindrical liquid thread flow by Rayleigh-Plateau instability. The microfluidic device described was capable of forming monodisperse droplets with a 160-microm average diameter and 3-microm standard deviation at a droplet formation frequency of 350 droplets per second from a single thread flow. The highest total flow rate achieved was 6 mL/h using the present device composed of a straight microchannel with a step. We also demonstrated parallel droplet formation by anisotropic elongation of multiple thread flows; the process was applied to form W/O and O/W droplets. The highly productive droplet formation process presented in this study is expected to be useful for future industrial applications.     

Alternating droplet generation and controlled dynamic droplet fusion in microfluidic device for CdS nanoparticle synthesis

A multifunctional and high-efficiency microfluidic device for droplet generation and fusion is presented. Through unique design of the micro-channels, the device is able to alternately generate droplets, generating droplet ratios ranging from 1 ratio 5 to 5 ratio 1, and fuse droplets, enabling precise chemical reactions in several picoliters on a single chip. The controlled fusion is managed by passive control based on the channel geometry and liquid phase flow. The synthesis of CdS nanoparticles utilizing each fused droplet as a microreactor for rapid and efficient mixing of reagents is demonstrated in this paper. Following alternating droplet generation, the channel geometry allows the exclusive fusion of alternate droplets with concomitant rapid mixing and produces supersaturated solution of Cd2+ and S2- ions to form CdS nanoparticles in each fused droplet. The spectroscopic properties of the CdS nanoparticles produced by this method are compared with CdS prepared by bulk mixing.     

流动聚焦型微流控体系中的液滴的图案化排列和转变模式

流体在微流通道中形成剪切流场（低雷诺数）．不同于宏观体系,由于剪切力和表面张力的竞争作用,产生的液滴在微尺度下的微流通道中形成特殊的排列现象---周期性类似“晶格”排列现象．设计了新型流动聚焦型微流控芯片,分析研究在微流体系中液滴周期性图案化排列和转变机理性,液滴排列模式受两方面因素影响：水油两相的流速比值和微通道尺寸．当微通道宽度为250或300 μm时,液滴形成单层分散,双层和单层挤压排列．当微通道宽度为350 μm 时,液滴会形成单层分散到三层排列到双层挤压最后到单层挤压排列．当出口通道宽度增加到400 μm时,甚至出现了液滴四层排列的现象．同时研究了各个液滴排列模式的“转变点”.     

Pneumatic handling of droplets on-demand on a microfluidic device for seamless processing of reaction and electrophoretic separation

Sequential operations of pre-separation reaction process by picoliter droplets and following electrophoretic separation process were realized in a single microfluidic device with pneumatic handling of liquid. The developed device consists of a fluidic chip made of PDMS, an electrode substrate, and a temperature control substrate on which thin film heater/sensor structures are fabricated. Liquid handling, including introduction of liquid samples, droplet generation, and merging of droplets, was implemented by pneumatic manipulation through microcapillary vent structures, allowing air to pass and stop liquid flow. Since the pneumatic manipulations are conducted in a fully automated manner by using a programmable air pressure control system, the user simply has to load liquid samples on each liquid port of the device. Droplets of 420 pL were generated with an accuracy of ± 2 pL by applying droplet generation pressure in the range of 40-100 kPa. As a demonstration, a binding reaction of a 15 mer ssDNA with a peptide nucleic acid oligomer used as an oligoprobe followed by denaturing electrophoresis to discriminate a single-base substitution was performed within 1.5 min. By exploiting the droplet-on-demand capability of the device, the influence of various factors, such as reaction time, mixing ratio and droplet configurations on the ssDNA-peptide nucleic acid binding reaction in the droplet-based process, was studied toward realization of a rapid detection method to discriminate rapid single-base substitution.     

Preparation of Poly(vinyl alcohol) Microspheres Based on Droplet Microfluidic Technology

A new method for preparing poly (vinyl alcohol) (PVA) microspheres was developed by using droplet microfluidic technology. In the microfluidic chip, a large number of uniform, monodispersed PVA droplets were prepared quickly and continuously by using droplet formation technology, and the droplet preparation speed reached 7 per second. The size of the PVA droplets could be controlled by changing the injection flow rate of the two-phase fluid and the width of microfluidic channel. Then the PVA microspheres were formed by physical crosslinking. This method has high preparation efficiency and good monodispersity of the obtained microspheres. Moreover, the process does not require the incorporation of chemical crosslinking agents, avoiding interference with the inclusion material, and is well suited for applications such as drug carrier.     

Digital droplet immunoassay based on a microfluidic chip with magnetic beads for the detection of prostate-specific antigen

Sensitive biomarker detection techniques are beneficial for both disease diagnosis and postoperative examinations. In this study, we report an integrated microfluidic chip designed for the immunodetection of prostate-specific antigens (PSAs). The microfluidic chip is based on the three-dimensional structure of quartz capillaries. The outlet channel extends to 1.8 cm, effectively facilitating the generation of uniform droplets ranging in size from 3 to 50 μm. Furthermore, we successfully immobilized the captured antibodies onto the surface of magnetic beads using an activator, and we constructed an immunosandwich complex by employing biotinylated antibodies. A key feature of this microfluidic chip is its integration of microfluidic droplet technology advantages, such as high-throughput parallelism, enzymatic signal amplification, and small droplet size. This integration results in an exceptionally sensitive PSA detection capability, with the detection limit reduced to 7.00 ± 0.62 pg/mL.