초록 ▼

The present invention relates to droplet-based particle sorting. According to one embodiment, a droplet microactuator is provided and includes: (a) a suspension of particles; and (b) electrodes arranged for conducting droplet operations using droplets comprising particles. A method of transporting a

The present invention relates to droplet-based particle sorting. According to one embodiment, a droplet microactuator is provided and includes: (a) a suspension of particles; and (b) electrodes arranged for conducting droplet operations using droplets comprising particles. A method of transporting a particle is also provided, wherein the method includes providing a droplet comprising the particle and transporting the droplet on a droplet microactuator.

대표청구항 ▼

1. A method of providing a droplet comprising a single cell, the method comprising: (a) providing a droplet comprising a suspension of cells on an electrowetting droplet actuator surrounded by an oil medium;(b) dispensing from the droplet of (a) to provide a dispensed droplet, wherein the dispensing

1. A method of providing a droplet comprising a single cell, the method comprising: (a) providing a droplet comprising a suspension of cells on an electrowetting droplet actuator surrounded by an oil medium;(b) dispensing from the droplet of (a) to provide a dispensed droplet, wherein the dispensing is electrowetting-mediated without the use of dielectrophoresis;(c) determining whether the dispensed droplet on the electrowetting droplet actuator comprises a single cell; and(d) sorting the dispensed droplet on the electrowetting droplet actuator based on the results of the determining step using electrowetting-mediated droplet operations. 2. The method of claim 1 further comprising repeating steps 50(b), 50(c), and 50(d). 3. The method of claim 1 wherein the oil medium is substantially immiscible with the droplets of 50(a) and (b). 4. The method of claim 1 wherein step 50(c) is achieved by detecting a number of cells in the dispensed droplet based on a property of and/or signal from the dispensed droplet. 5. The method of claim 4 wherein the detecting step is achieved using a sensor. 6. The method of claim 1, further wherein a single cell determined to be comprised in the dispensed droplet comprises a target cell type, and wherein step 50(c) further comprises detecting the target cell type of the single cell in the dispensed droplet based on a property of and/or signal detected from the dispensed droplet. 7. The method of claim 1 further comprising combining a dispensed droplet determined to comprise a single cell with a separate droplet provided on the droplet actuator to form a combined droplet, wherein the separate droplet comprises a substance which interacts with the single cell. 8. The method of claim 7 wherein the substance which may interact with the single cell is selected from the group consisting of: beads, cells, microparticles, nanoparticles, drugs, proteins, peptides, antigens, toxins, and antibodies. 9. The method of claim 7 further comprising determining in the combined droplet the presence or quantity of the substance indicative of the single cell's response to the substance. 10. The method of claim 9 wherein determining in the combined droplet the presence or quantity of the substance indicative of the single cell's response to the substance comprises conducting an assay comprising electrowetting-mediated droplet operations. 11. The method of claim 7 wherein the single cell comprises a T cell. 12. The method of claim 1 further comprising determining if the dispensed droplet comprises multiple cells and combining a dispensed droplet determined to comprise multiple cells with the droplet comprising the suspension of cells. 13. The method of claim 1 further comprising: (a) determining if the dispensed droplet comprises multiple cells;(b) splitting a dispensed droplet determined to comprise multiple cells to yield two or more daughter droplets; and(c) analyzing one or more of the daughter droplets for the presence of a single cell. 14. The method of claim 1 further comprising: (a) determining if the dispensed droplet comprises multiple cells;(b) combining a dispensed droplet determined to comprise multiple cells with a buffer droplet to form a combined droplet;(c) splitting the combined droplet to yield two or more daughter droplets; and(d) analyzing one or more of the daughter droplets for the presence of a single cell. 15. The method of claim 1 further comprising determining if the dispensed droplet does not contain a single cell and transporting a dispensed droplet determined not to contain a single cell back to the droplet comprising the suspension of cells using electrowetting-mediated droplet operations. 16. The method of claim 1 further comprising determining if the dispensed droplet does not contain a single cell and discarding a dispensed droplet determined not to contain a single cell. 17. The method of claim 1 wherein step 50(c) comprises detecting if a signal indicative of a presence of a single cell is present in the dispensed droplet. 18. The method of claim 17 wherein the signal from a dispensed droplet determined to comprise a single cell comprises a fluorescence from a molecule which binds to the single cell. 19. The method of claim 17 wherein the signal from a dispensed droplet determined to comprise a single cell comprises a radioactive signal. 20. The method of claim 17 wherein the signal from a dispensed droplet determined to comprise a single cell comprises a visual image. 21. The method of claim 1 wherein a dispensed droplet determined to comprise a single cell is transported to an on-droplet microactuator reservoir. 22. The method of claim 1 wherein additional droplet operations are conducted on a dispensed droplet determined to comprise a single cell. 23. The method of claim 1 wherein a dispensed droplet determined to comprise a single cell is further analyzed.