Abstract

Biocompatible Fluids and Surfactants for Drop Merging in a Teflon Tube

Aishah Prastowo, DPhil/Postgraduate Researcher, University of Oxford

An accessible method for manipulating microfluidic drops within a single laminar flow in a Teflon tube by using three immiscible fluids has recently been developed, termed “drops-in-drops” approach [1]. The interfacial tensions between the fluids determine the fluidic architecture and control the relative velocity of the drops; therefore surfactants are used to alter this property. In this study, commercially available fluids and surfactants were screened for mammalian-cell-based drug screening application using drops-in-drops merging, taking into account two criteria: (1) the interfacial tensions should maintain stable structure and sufficient relative velocity of the drops, and (2) the fluid/surfactant combination should be compatible for culturing cells in drops. An optimum fluid/surfactant combination was chosen from this screening and used to demonstrate its feasibility for screening drugs on suspension mammalian cells. The results open up new possibilities of using alternative fluids and surfactants with different physical properties for different applications.