Gravity‐Oriented Microfluidic Device for Biocompatible End‐to‐End Fabrication of Cell‐Laden Microgels

Abstract Droplet microfluidics are extensively utilized to generate monodisperse cell‐laden microgels in biomedical applications. However, maintaining cell viability is still challenging due to overexposure to harsh conditions in subsequent procedures that recover the microgels from the oil phase. Here, a gravity‐oriented microfluidic device for end‐to‐end fabrication of cell‐laden microgels is reported, which integrates dispersion, gelation, and extraction into a continuous workflow. This innovative on‐chip extraction, driven by native buoyancy and kinetically facilitated by pseudosurfactant, exhibits 100% retrieval efficiency for microgels with a wide range of sizes and stiffnesses. The viability of encapsulated cells is perfectly maintained at ≈98% with minimal variations within and between batches. The end‐to‐end fabrication remarkably enhances the biocompatibility and practicality of microfluidics‐based cell encapsulation and is promising to be compatible with various applications ranging from single‐cell analysis to clinical therapy.