Figure 3

Integration of microfluidic dissociation and encapsulation modules. (A) Image of a microfluidic dissociation device interconnected with a flow focusing encapsulation device. Outlet from the dissociation device was connected to the core flow inlet of the encapsulation device. (B) Design of the dissociation device consisting of PDMS pillars with pitch ranging from 500 μm at the inlet to 50 μm at the outlet. (C) Microcapsules imaged immediately after fabrication. Note the number of blank capsules is lower when dissociation device is used prior to encapsulation. (D) Quantification of capsules occupied by cells (n = 100, p < 0.05). (E) Size distribution of spheroids after encapsulation with and without the dissociation device (n = 90, spheroids, p < 0.05). (F) HUES-8 viability is not affected by the dissociation/encapsulation process. (G) Images of encapsulated spheriods of HUES-8 cells created from varying starting cell concentrations. (H) Quantiation of spheroid diameters created from different cell inputs: 15 × 10⁶ cells mL⁻¹ (low), 30 × 10⁶ cells mL⁻¹ (medium) and 60 × 10⁶ cells mL⁻¹ (high) (n = 48, p < 0.05). HUES-8 cells were encapsulated.