The physics of pressure powered micro-flow focusing device for the encapsulation of live cells

摘要

Micro flow focusing devices (mFFD) have emerged as a powerful tool for cell encapsulation and the formation of micro-emulsions. In the frame of live cell encapsulation, a micro-FFD using alginate solutions for the capsule and powered by highly controllable pressure pumps has been developed. This work deals with the different aspects of the problem: the rheology of alginate solutions, the flow regimes and flow charts, the influence of the different parameters including a scaling analysis and considerations on the thread break-up. Experimental observations of capsules produced in the microsystem are finally shown.