Hydrogel discs for digital microfluidics |
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| Authors: | Fiddes Lindsey K Luk Vivienne N Au Sam H Ng Alphonsus H C Luk Victoria Kumacheva Eugenia Wheeler Aaron R |
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| Institution: | 1Department of Chemistry, University of Toronto, 80 St. George St., Toronto, Ontario M5S 3H6, Canada;2Donnelly Centre for Cellular and Biomolecular Research, 160 College St., Toronto, Ontario M5S 3E1, Canada;3Institute for Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering, University of Toronto, 164 College St., Toronto, Ontario M5S 3G9, Canada |
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| Abstract: | Hydrogels are networks of hydrophilic polymer chains that are swollen with water, and they are useful for a wide range of applications because they provide stable niches for immobilizing proteins and cells. We report here the marriage of hydrogels with digital microfluidic devices. Until recently, digital microfluidics, a fluid handling technique in which discrete droplets are manipulated electromechanically on the surface of an array of electrodes, has been used only for homogeneous systems involving liquid reagents. Here, we demonstrate for the first time that the cylindrical hydrogel discs can be incorporated into digital microfluidic systems and that these discs can be systematically addressed by droplets of reagents. Droplet movement is observed to be unimpeded by interaction with the gel discs, and gel discs remain stationary when droplets pass through them. Analyte transport into gel discs is observed to be identical to diffusion in cases in which droplets are incubated with gels passively, but transport is enhanced when droplets are continually actuated through the gels. The system is useful for generating integrated enzymatic microreactors and for three-dimensional cell culture. This paper demonstrates a new combination of techniques for lab-on-a-chip systems which we propose will be useful for a wide range of applications. |
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