Integration of acoustic, optical, and electrical methods in picoliter droplet microfluidics for rare particles enrichment
Abstract Rare particle enrichment plays a pivotal role in advancing numerous scientific research areas and industrial processes. Traditional enrichment methods encounter obstacles such as low efficiency, high cost, and complexity. Acoustic focusing, optical fiber detection, and electrical manipulati...
Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Nature Portfolio
2025-05-01
|
| Series: | Communications Engineering |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s44172-025-00427-0 |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1849326913513848832 |
|---|---|
| author | Huasheng Zhuo Chunhua He Canfeng Yang Xian Jiang Fan Li Xiangliang Yang Hai Yang Tuying Yong Zhiyong Liu Yan Ma Lei Nie Guanglan Liao Tielin Shi |
| author_facet | Huasheng Zhuo Chunhua He Canfeng Yang Xian Jiang Fan Li Xiangliang Yang Hai Yang Tuying Yong Zhiyong Liu Yan Ma Lei Nie Guanglan Liao Tielin Shi |
| author_sort | Huasheng Zhuo |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Rare particle enrichment plays a pivotal role in advancing numerous scientific research areas and industrial processes. Traditional enrichment methods encounter obstacles such as low efficiency, high cost, and complexity. Acoustic focusing, optical fiber detection, and electrical manipulation have shown potential in microfluidics for particle manipulation and analysis. This study pioneers the integration of the acoustic, optical, and electrical units to overcome the traditional limitations. The cooperative dynamics of acoustic and flow focusing are explored. The optical fibers with an enhanced detection algorithm greatly boost optical detection sensitivity. Furthermore, the droplet charging to enhance the tip charging phenomenon is complemented and validated. The detection and sorting accuracy of enriching large-size H22 cells reached 99.8% and 99.3%, respectively, with the target cell concentration increased by nearly 86-fold. Our work significantly enhances detection sensitivity and particle manipulation accuracy, ultimately offering a robust and reliable solution for generating droplets to enrich rare particles. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-27bda390921f44dd98837a2cf01d1a42 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2731-3395 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-05-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Communications Engineering |
| spelling | doaj-art-27bda390921f44dd98837a2cf01d1a422025-08-20T03:48:02ZengNature PortfolioCommunications Engineering2731-33952025-05-014111410.1038/s44172-025-00427-0Integration of acoustic, optical, and electrical methods in picoliter droplet microfluidics for rare particles enrichmentHuasheng Zhuo0Chunhua He1Canfeng Yang2Xian Jiang3Fan Li4Xiangliang Yang5Hai Yang6Tuying Yong7Zhiyong Liu8Yan Ma9Lei Nie10Guanglan Liao11Tielin Shi12State Key Laboratory of Digital Manufacturing Equipment and Technology, Huazhong University of Science and TechnologyState Key Laboratory of Digital Manufacturing Equipment and Technology, Huazhong University of Science and TechnologyState Key Laboratory of Digital Manufacturing Equipment and Technology, Huazhong University of Science and TechnologyState Key Laboratory of Digital Manufacturing Equipment and Technology, Huazhong University of Science and TechnologyState Key Laboratory of Digital Manufacturing Equipment and Technology, Huazhong University of Science and TechnologyCollege of Life Science and Technology, Huazhong University of Science and TechnologyCollege of Life Science and Technology, Huazhong University of Science and TechnologyCollege of Life Science and Technology, Huazhong University of Science and TechnologyState Key Laboratory of Digital Manufacturing Equipment and Technology, Huazhong University of Science and TechnologyJoint Wuhan Blood Center-Huazhong University of Science and Technology Hematology Optical Imaging Center, Institute of Blood Transfusion of Hubei Province, Wuhan Blood CenterSchool of Mechanical Engineering, Hubei University of TechnologyState Key Laboratory of Digital Manufacturing Equipment and Technology, Huazhong University of Science and TechnologyState Key Laboratory of Digital Manufacturing Equipment and Technology, Huazhong University of Science and TechnologyAbstract Rare particle enrichment plays a pivotal role in advancing numerous scientific research areas and industrial processes. Traditional enrichment methods encounter obstacles such as low efficiency, high cost, and complexity. Acoustic focusing, optical fiber detection, and electrical manipulation have shown potential in microfluidics for particle manipulation and analysis. This study pioneers the integration of the acoustic, optical, and electrical units to overcome the traditional limitations. The cooperative dynamics of acoustic and flow focusing are explored. The optical fibers with an enhanced detection algorithm greatly boost optical detection sensitivity. Furthermore, the droplet charging to enhance the tip charging phenomenon is complemented and validated. The detection and sorting accuracy of enriching large-size H22 cells reached 99.8% and 99.3%, respectively, with the target cell concentration increased by nearly 86-fold. Our work significantly enhances detection sensitivity and particle manipulation accuracy, ultimately offering a robust and reliable solution for generating droplets to enrich rare particles.https://doi.org/10.1038/s44172-025-00427-0 |
| spellingShingle | Huasheng Zhuo Chunhua He Canfeng Yang Xian Jiang Fan Li Xiangliang Yang Hai Yang Tuying Yong Zhiyong Liu Yan Ma Lei Nie Guanglan Liao Tielin Shi Integration of acoustic, optical, and electrical methods in picoliter droplet microfluidics for rare particles enrichment Communications Engineering |
| title | Integration of acoustic, optical, and electrical methods in picoliter droplet microfluidics for rare particles enrichment |
| title_full | Integration of acoustic, optical, and electrical methods in picoliter droplet microfluidics for rare particles enrichment |
| title_fullStr | Integration of acoustic, optical, and electrical methods in picoliter droplet microfluidics for rare particles enrichment |
| title_full_unstemmed | Integration of acoustic, optical, and electrical methods in picoliter droplet microfluidics for rare particles enrichment |
| title_short | Integration of acoustic, optical, and electrical methods in picoliter droplet microfluidics for rare particles enrichment |
| title_sort | integration of acoustic optical and electrical methods in picoliter droplet microfluidics for rare particles enrichment |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s44172-025-00427-0 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT huashengzhuo integrationofacousticopticalandelectricalmethodsinpicoliterdropletmicrofluidicsforrareparticlesenrichment AT chunhuahe integrationofacousticopticalandelectricalmethodsinpicoliterdropletmicrofluidicsforrareparticlesenrichment AT canfengyang integrationofacousticopticalandelectricalmethodsinpicoliterdropletmicrofluidicsforrareparticlesenrichment AT xianjiang integrationofacousticopticalandelectricalmethodsinpicoliterdropletmicrofluidicsforrareparticlesenrichment AT fanli integrationofacousticopticalandelectricalmethodsinpicoliterdropletmicrofluidicsforrareparticlesenrichment AT xiangliangyang integrationofacousticopticalandelectricalmethodsinpicoliterdropletmicrofluidicsforrareparticlesenrichment AT haiyang integrationofacousticopticalandelectricalmethodsinpicoliterdropletmicrofluidicsforrareparticlesenrichment AT tuyingyong integrationofacousticopticalandelectricalmethodsinpicoliterdropletmicrofluidicsforrareparticlesenrichment AT zhiyongliu integrationofacousticopticalandelectricalmethodsinpicoliterdropletmicrofluidicsforrareparticlesenrichment AT yanma integrationofacousticopticalandelectricalmethodsinpicoliterdropletmicrofluidicsforrareparticlesenrichment AT leinie integrationofacousticopticalandelectricalmethodsinpicoliterdropletmicrofluidicsforrareparticlesenrichment AT guanglanliao integrationofacousticopticalandelectricalmethodsinpicoliterdropletmicrofluidicsforrareparticlesenrichment AT tielinshi integrationofacousticopticalandelectricalmethodsinpicoliterdropletmicrofluidicsforrareparticlesenrichment |