Extended Data Fig. 1: DisCo device features and their performance.

(a) Schematic of the DisCo device design (blue: flow layer, green: control layer). 1. oil valve, 2. oil inlet, 3. cell inlet, 4. bead inlet, 5. cell valve, 6. dropleting valve, 7. bead valve, 8. sample valve, 9. waste valve, 10. sample outlet, 11. waste outlet. (b) Visualization of real-time image processing for particle detection. (c) Particle positioning by valve oscillation. Approaching particles are detected in the detection zone. Once a particle is detected, the channel valve is oscillated to induce discrete movements of particles. Oscillation is terminated once correct placement of a particle is achieved. (d) Stopping accuracy in a defined window. Beads (n = 744) were positioned using valve oscillation, their position was manually determined within the stopping area. Scale was approximated from channel width. (e) Volume-defined droplet on-demand generation by valve pressurization. Droplets (n = 68, ~8 per condition, 1 experiment) were produced by pressurizing the dropleting valve at different pressures. Size was determined by imaging the dropleting process. Volumes were calculated from the imaging data based on droplet length and channel geometry. Thus, they should be considered an approximation. Points represent mean values, error bars +/-SD. The channel width of displayed images is 250 μm.