Digital microfluidics for cell manipulation

• DOI: 10.1016/j.trac.2019.06.008
• Publication Date: 2019-06-19T15:12:36Z
• Authors: Long Pang; Jing Ding; Xi-Xian Liu; Shih-Kang Fan
• Keywords: Digital Microfluidics; Cell Sorting

Abstract A droplet-based technique to handle liquids called digital microfluidics (DMF) has attracted attention for cell manipulation (e.g., cell culture, cell sorting and single-cell analysis). With DMF, one manipulates droplets, of size ranging from picolitre to microlitre, on a planar surface by means of an electric field. DMF hence becomes an appealing platform to use for eventual integration into standard biological workflows. In this paper our aim is to provide a synopsis of cutting-edge developments in DMF-based cell manipulation, and to focus particularly on cell culture, cell sorting and single-cell applications.