Deterministic droplet-based co-encapsulation of single cells through inertial and hydrodynamic focusing
Abstract
, 1 and 2), single-particle encapsulation exceeds 76%, significantly surpassing Poisson distribution predictions. Moreover, single-cell capture efficiency exceeds 60% under these conditions. In co-encapsulation experiments, we achieved a one-cell-multiple-beads co-encapsulation efficiency near 40%, marking a significant improvement over the Poisson limit. For single-cell applications, we performed co-encapsulation of THP-1 monocytes and streptavidin-coated magnetic beads for TNF-α cytokine detection following lipopolysaccharide stimulation. Cytokine secretion was successfully detected at the single-cell level in both aqueous droplets and alginate hydrogels. We anticipate that this method will offer a promising platform for probing cell-cell interactions and immune responses at single-cell resolution.
Fields of Study & Subjects
Innovative Microfluidic and Catalytic Techniques Innovation
Microfluidic and Bio-sensing Technologies
Electrowetting and Microfluidic Technologies
Publication details
- Journal / source
- The Analyst
- Publisher
- Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC)
- Volume
- 151
- Issue
- 6
- Pages
- 1627–1638
- Publication date
- 1 January 2026
- Language
- EN