Table 1.
Control parameters
| Parameter | Purpose | Too low | Too high |
|---|---|---|---|
| AV (pulse amplitude) | defines the strength of dielectrophoretic force required to sort the droplets | not enough dielectrophoretic force to pull the droplet toward collection channel | droplet disruption due to high dielectrophoretic force |
| DV (pulse duration) | defines the time span of the sorting pulse required to sort a single droplet | droplet is not pulled long enough to reach collection channel | multiple droplets are pulled along with the correct droplet |
| LV (pulse delay) | defines the time delay between droplet detection and sorting trigger to accommodate for the distance between detection zone and sorting junction | may result in sorting of droplets ahead of the correct droplet | may result in sorting of droplets behind the correct droplet |
| QC (continuous phase flow rate) | delivers the continuous phase (oil) to the microfluidic chip | low throughput but high sorting efficiency | high throughput but low sorting efficiency or no sorting |
| QD (dispersed phase flow rate) | delivers the dispersed phase (aqueous) to the microfluidic chip | low throughput with high sorting efficiency | sorting of more than the desired droplet (additional false positives) |
| QW (withdraw flow rate) | withdraws fluid from the waste channel to ensure the default trajectory of every droplet is toward waste channel | some droplets may spontaneously enter in collection channel resulting in false positives | sorting may require higher dielectrophoretic force, resulting in droplet disruption, fusion, and trapping |
The purpose of various parameters that iSort optimizes to reach maximum throughput with highest efficiency and the effect of lower or higher than optimum values of these parameters on sorting operation.