Open microfluidics: droplet microarrays as next generation multiwell plates for high throughput screening

• Published in: Lab on a chip Vol. 24; no. 5; pp. 164 - 175
• Main Authors: Strutt, Robert, Xiong, Bijing, Abegg, Vanessa Fabienne, Dittrich, Petra S
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Royal Society of Chemistry 27.02.2024; The Royal Society of Chemistry
• Subjects: Bioengineering; Biomedical Engineering; Chemistry; Droplets; High-Throughput Screening Assays - methods; Microfluidic Analytical Techniques - methods; Microfluidics; Microfluidics - methods; Plates; Screening
• ISSN: 1473-0197; 1473-0189
• DOI: 10.1039/d3lc01024d

Multiwell plates are prominent in the biological and chemical sciences; however, they face limitations in terms of throughput and deployment in emerging bioengineering fields. Droplet microarrays, as an open microfluidic technology, organise tiny droplets typically in the order of thousands, on an accessible plate. In this perspective, we summarise current approaches for generating droplets, fluid handling on them, and analysis within droplet microarrays. By enabling unique plate engineering opportunities, demonstrating the necessary experimental procedures required for manipulating and interacting with biological cells, and integrating with label-free analytical techniques, droplet microarrays can be deployed across a more extensive experimental domain than what is currently covered by multiwell plates. Droplet microarrays thus offer a solution to the bottlenecks associated with multiwell plates, particularly in the areas of biological cultivation and high-throughput compound screening. Droplet microarrays underpin novel experimentation across the biological and chemical sciences. This perspective explores operations and analysis with droplet microarrays, placing focus on a comparison to traditional multiwell plates.