Offer no. 8/18

A portable gravity-driven emulsification microfluidic device on chip for generation on-demand of highly monodispersed droplets, droplet generation process and use of such a device for determination of minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of antibiotics

  • Summary:

    This invention is a device, and also a method of high-throughput generation of monodisperse droplets without additional dedicated syringe pumps, and also the application of the said device to assess minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of antibiotics and to count microorganisms. The invention uses gravity as the pressure source that pushes the sample through a module for passive emulsification. The invention allows for emulsification of more than one sample at the same time.

  • Inventors:
    Kao Yu-Ting, Piotr Garstecki, Tomasz Kamiński, Witold Postek, Jan Guzowski
  • Advantages / Innovative aspects:
    • The invention allows for emulsification of a series of samples without the use of syringe pumps or other dedicated pressure sources
    • The invention is easy to use, which allows an unqualified person to operate the invention after a short training
    • The invention allows for high-throughput analysis of antibiotic resistance and for counting of bacteria
  • Keywords:
    Emulsion, passive emulsification, droplet library
  • Field:
  • Usage:

    The invention finds applications in microfluidic analytical techniques, in counting bacteria (colony forming units, CFU), and in asssays that screen susceptibility of bacteria to antibiotics (antibiotic susceptibility tests, AST). The invention also allows for running biochemical digital assays in droplets, for example polymerase chain reaction (PCR) or in isothermal amplification of nucleic acids.

  • State of the progress:
    stage of research
  • Intellectual property rights:
    Patent application in Poland
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