Digital High-speed Microscope

High-speed microscope for microfluidics: “Track Droplet” software plugin 

The OptoViewer software features a “Track Droplets” plugin. Thisallows for droplet/particle analysis. Single cells or microfluidic droplets can be automatically detected, tracked, velocity measured, and volume determined or read out inline. All statistics are displayed and can be saved. 

• Droplet count 
• Droplet per second 
• Average droplet size 

Water-in-oil and oil-in-water emulsion production 

An emulsion refers to a mixture of two liquids that are normally unable to mix. It consists of small droplets of one liquid suspended within another liquid. Specifically, in oil-in-water (O/W) emulsions, tiny droplets of oil are dispersed and enclosed within the continuous water phase. In water in oil (W/O) emulsions, small droplets of water are dispersed within the continuous oil phase.

These emulsion techniques, O/W and W/O are extensively utilized in various OEM and research settings to create droplets, hydrogel beads, polymer beads, or wax beads. 

Fluigent has published several application notes on this topic, introducing cutting-edge technology that involves the use of a high-speed microscope. This tool enables researchers to observe the production of high-quality monodispersed droplets. 

Figure 1: Water-in-oil droplets generated by Fluigent controllers and chips, visualized through the microscope. 

Double emulsion production

In addition to its use in single-emulsion experiments, our fast microscope for microfluidics can also be utilized in setups involving double emulsions. The creation of double emulsions hold great promise in various academic and industrial fields. Examples include fragrance manufacturing in the cosmetics industry, food applications, drug delivery in pharmaceutics, and more. 

The application note “Double Emulsion Generation” introduces Fluigent’s Double Emulsion Production Pack: a comprehensive system equipped with a microscope. This system enables the production of monodisperse double emulsions. It features the RayDrop, developed and manufactured by Secoya, to facilitate one-step production of double emulsions using a single device. 

Figure 2: System setup for double emulsions 

Microparticles Synthesis 

Fluigent technology enables the production of highly monodispersed microparticles or microcapsules. Several materials are used depending on the final application, including alginates, PLGA, or agarose microparticles. To achieve a high level of uniformity, the RayDrop is utilized as part of a microfluidic setup that includes the digital high-speed microscope.   

Figure 3: System for PLGA microparticle production.