A Study on the Generation of Single Cell Droplets via the Combination of Lateral-Field Optoelectronic Tweezers and Electrowetting-on-Dielectric

Microfluidic technology is currently a popular approach in the field of single-cell research, which is used to reveal the heterogeneity among cells. However, most of the existing microfluidic technologies for single-cell research lack the ability to control the microenvironment of single cells after isolating them. In this work, a technology that combines lateral-field optoelectronic tweezers (LOET) with electrowetting-on-dielectric (EWOD) is used to separate cells into single cells and then encapsulate each single cell within an individual droplet, generating single-cell droplets. More importantly, it also enables the control of the microenvironment of the separated single cells. The driving control of the single - cell droplets is achieved through the EWOD, which has good application prospects in the field of single- cell research.