Lightcast Discovery Ltd

Tom Isaac

Barnaby Balmforth

Gareth Podd

Jasmin Conterio

Kerr Francis Johnson

Maciej Sosna

Richard Ingham

Devices, systems, and associated methods are provided for manipulating and/or determining one or more characteristics of cells contained within a biological sample. In particular a device and methods of use thereof are provided, the device comprising a sorting component configured to separate cell-containing microdroplets from empty ones into a population of cell-containing first microdroplets; a microdroplet manipulation component configured to manipulate the first microdroplets using real or virtual electrowetting electrodes, and an optical detection system configured to detect an optical signal from the microdroplets via the one or more detection windows.

Device and method for microdroplet detection of cells

A method of manipulating microdroplets having an average volume in the range 0.5 femtolitres to 10 nanolitres comprised of at least one biological component and a first aqueous medium having a water activity of aof less than 1 is provided. It is characterised by the step of maintaining the microdroplets in a water-immiscible carrier fluid which further includes secondary droplets having an average volume less than 25% of the average volume of the microdroplets up to and including a maximum of 4 femtolitres and wherein the volume ratio of carrier fluid to total volume of microdroplets per unit volume of the total is greater than 2:1. The method may be employed for example with microdroplets containing biological cells or with microdroplets containing single nucleoside phosphate such as are prepared in a droplet-based nucleic acid sequencer. The method is suitable for controlling for example cellular, chemical or enzymatic processes and/or microdroplet size in microdroplets or single nucleotide nucleic acid sequencing.

Microdroplet manipulation method

Growing community of inventors

Cambridge, United Kingdom

Tom Isaac