US 11,794,188 B2
Ultra high efficiency microfluidic platform
Arum Han, College Station, TX (US); Adrian Guzman, College Station, TX (US); Han Zhang, College Station, TX (US); Jose Wippold, College Station, TX (US); and Jing Dai, College Station, TX (US)
Assigned to THE TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY SYSTEM, College Station, TX (US)
Filed by THE TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY SYSTEM, College Station, TX (US)
Filed on Apr. 23, 2021, as Appl. No. 17/239,456.
Claims priority of provisional application 63/014,311, filed on Apr. 23, 2020.
Prior Publication US 2022/0097066 A1, Mar. 31, 2022
Int. Cl. B01L 3/00 (2006.01)
CPC B01L 3/502784 (2013.01) [B01L 2200/027 (2013.01); B01L 2200/0647 (2013.01); B01L 2200/12 (2013.01); B01L 2200/16 (2013.01); B01L 2400/086 (2013.01)] 20 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A droplet production system, comprising: a droplet transition unit comprising a curved or sloped structure configured to provide controlled flow of a fluid to a droplet cleaving unit; a droplet cleaving unit containing two or more microfluidic channels joined at an acute angle, wherein a first continuous-phase fluid flows in a first microfluidic channel, a second fluid containing a first set of multi-phase emulsion droplets flows in a second microfluidic channel, and wherein the continuous-phase fluid in the first microfluidic channel is cleaved into a second set of droplets by flow of the multi-phase emulsion droplets in the second microfluidic channel; a droplet synchronization unit that places the first set of multi-phase emulsion droplets in close proximity to the second set of droplets generated from cleaving of the continuous-phase flow to form paired droplets, wherein a pairing ratio between the first set and second set of droplets varies depending on the conditions utilized; and a merging unit that merges the paired droplets into a single droplet.