Improvement strategy of a microfluidic sorter using a pneumatic bilayer valve

Abstract

Here, we describe the study of a pneumatic bilayer valve-based microfluidic sorter to improve sorting performance and stability. Unlike conventional microfluidic fluorescence-activated droplet sorters, the mechanical flow shifting characteristics of the pneumatic bilayer valve are less affected by the physical properties of samples, making it widely applicable to various sample types. The optimization of the valve channel structure improves sorting accuracy and efficiency at higher throughput by reducing the actuation time by three times, and alignment of fluid flows reduces false-positive errors by 5.5 times which can directly affect sorting accuracy and efficiency. Under these optimized conditions, we achieve both sorting accuracy and efficiency more than 98% at 50 Hz throughput. This microfluidic sorter allows the sorting of various sample types, such as cell suspensions, cell-laden hydrogels, and cell-encapsulated droplets.