Fig. 4: Overcoming unwanted droplet merging and false-positive droplet pulling errors using NOVAsort.
A Schematic and (B) micrographs of unintentional droplet merging (top) or multiple droplet sorting (bottom, false positive) when using a linear sorter (scale bar = 200 µm). C Schematic and (D) micrographs of NOVAsort preventing false-positive sorting (top: blank droplet right behind the larger and gray “hit” droplet correctly going out to waste), showing good tolerance to even close droplet-to-droplet distance due to the localized electric field. Simulated electric field strength generated by the (E) liquid metal electrodes (600 Vpp, 10 kHz) and (F) surface IDEs (20 Vpp, 10 kHz) in the case of a 100 µm height channel. G The accuracy of sorting a correctly sized and fluorescent-positive droplet from a polydisperse library under different droplet-to-droplet distances. Data are presented as mean values ± SD of three separate experiments (n = 3). H The sorting trajectory of droplets under different sorting delay times. The delay time of 2 ms means the electric field is triggered 2 ms after the droplet fluorescence is detected. A, C, created with BioRender.com, released under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 International license.
