Droplet Combinations: A Scalable Microfluidic Platform for Biochemical Assays

Droplet-based microfluidics holds enormous potential for transforming high-throughput drug screening. Miniaturization through droplets in combination with automation contributes to reduce reagent use and analysis time as well as minimizing or eliminating labor-intensive steps leading to associated reductions in cost. In this paper, we demonstrate the potential of automated and cost-effective microfluidic droplet-generating technology in the context of an enzymatic activity assay for screening collagenase inhibitors. Experimental results show reproducible and accurate creation and mixing of droplet combinations resulting in biochemical data comparable to data produced by an industry standard instrument. This microfluidic platform that can generate and combine multiple droplets represents a promising tool for high-throughput drug screening.