A high volume microfluidic system for producing emulsions includes a fluid distribution network to produce uniformly sized emulsions and encapsulates.

The invention describes a method for isolating one or more genetic elements encoding a gene product having a desired activity, comprising the steps of: (a) compartmentalising genetic elements into microcapsules; and (b) sorting the genetic elements which express the gene product having the desired activity; wherein at least one step is under microfluidic control. The invention enables the in vitro evolution of nucleic acids and proteins by repeated mutagenesis and iterative applications of the method of the invention.

The present invention provides microfluidic technology enabling rapid and economical manipulation of reactions on the femtoliter to microliter scale.

A microchannel device includes: an upstream channel portion configured to allow an upstream liquid plug and a gas to flow therethrough; a downstream channel portion configured to allow a downstream liquid plug and a gas to flow therethrough; a liquid holding portion provided between a downstream end portion of the upstream channel portion and an upstream end portion of the downstream channel portion, the liquid holding portion being configured to hold a main liquid plug therein; and a gas bypass channel portion provided so as to bypass the liquid holding portion from the downstream end portion of the upstream channel portion to the upstream end portion of the downstream channel portion, the gas bypass channel portion being configured to allow the gas to flow therethrough in a state in which the liquid holding portion holds the main liquid plug.

The present invention is generally related to systems and methods for producing droplets. The droplets may contain varying species, e.g., for use as a library. In some cases, at least one droplet is used to create a plurality of droplets, using techniques such as flow-focusing techniques. In one set of embodiments, a plurality of droplets, containing varying species, can be divided to form a collection of droplets containing the various species therein. A collection of droplets, according to certain embodiments, may contain various subpopulations of droplets that all contain the same species therein. Such a collection of droplets may be used as a library in some cases, or may be used for other purposes.

a method and an apparatus for a large-scale production of monodisperse microspheres and biodegradable polymer-based drug delivery systems and design optimization method for the apparatus are provided. The method uses a plurality of microchips, each microchip having at least a first pathway, a second pathway and an outlet, wherein the first pathway and the second pathway merge at a cross point being one end of the outlet, and the method comprises preparing a polymer-phase solution including a degradable polymer and a water-phase solution including a surfactant, having the polymer-phase solution flow through the first pathway, having the water-phase solution flow through the second pathway, gathering a mixed solution flowing out of the outlet, and collecting the microspheres by filtering out the water-phase solution.

Provided is an apparatus for a mass production of microspheres and a multichannel forming device incorporatable therein. The apparatus comprises a multi-channel microsphere forming unit, a first source material reservoir containing the first source material and in fluid communication with the plurality of first microchannels, a second source material reservoir containing the second source material and in fluid communication with the plurality of second microchannels, a flow control unit configured to supply a first gas to the first source material reservoir at a first source material flow rate and to supply a second gas to a second source material reservoir at a second source material flow rate and a product reservoir for accommodating the microspheres formed from the multi-channel forming unit.

Various aspects of the present invention relate to the control and manipulation of fluidic species, for example, in microfluidic systems. In one aspect, the invention relates to systems and methods for making droplets of fluid surrounded by a liquid, using, for example, electric fields, mechanical alterations, the addition of an intervening fluid, etc. In some cases, the droplets may each have a substantially uniform number of entities therein. For example, 95% or more of the droplets may each contain the same number of entities of a particular species. In another aspect, the invention relates to systems and methods for dividing a fluidic droplet into two droplets, for example, through charge and/or dipole interactions with an electric field. The invention also relates to systems and methods for fusing droplets according to another aspect of the invention, for example, through charge and/or dipole interactions. In some cases, the fusion of the droplets may initiate or determine a reaction. In a related aspect of the invention, systems and methods for allowing fluid mixing within droplets to occur are also provided. In still another aspect, the invention relates to systems and methods for sorting droplets, e.g., by causing droplets to move to certain regions within a fluidic system. Examples include using electrical interactions (e.g., charges, dipoles, etc.) or mechanical systems (e.g., fluid displacement) to sort the droplets. In some cases, the fluidic droplets can be sorted at relatively high rates, e.g., at about 10 droplets per second or more. Another aspect of the invention provides the ability to determine droplets, or a component thereof, for example, using fluorescence and/or other optical techniques (e.g., microscopy), or electric sensing techniques such as dielectric sensing.

The present subject matter relates to devices and techniques for preparing a sample. The disclosed device can include a mixer, a reaction channel, and a micro sprayer. The mixer can be configured to mix at least two components and perform a splitting and recombination (SAR) mixing. The micro sprayer can be configured to generate a droplet of the sample. The mixer and the micro sprayer can be coupled through the reaction channel. The reaction channel can be a microcapillary tubing or a yin-yang reaction channel.

The present subject matter relates to devices and techniques for preparing a sample. The disclosed device can include a mixer, a reaction channel, and a micro sprayer. The mixer can be configured to mix at least two components and perform a splitting and recombination (SAR) mixing. The micro sprayer can be configured to generate a droplet of the sample. The mixer and the micro sprayer can be coupled through the reaction channel. The reaction channel can be a microcapillary tubing or a yin-yang reaction channel.