Real-Time Monitoring of Bacterial Growth Using a Microfluidic Microdroplet Culture System

Begin with a microdroplet culture chamber containing a microfluidic chip with pump-controlled connectors for fluid flow and waste removal.

Place a reagent bottle containing a bacterial suspension overlaid with oil inside the chamber.

Connect the bottle’s top tube to a pump port and the side tube to a chip connector. Close the chamber.

Set the growth curve parameters. Then, initiate the droplet generation.

As oil and bacterial suspension converge at the T-junction, the oil shear breaks the aqueous bacterial phase into uniform, bacteria-encapsulating microdroplets.

After droplet generation, remove the bottle, connect the chip connector to the pump port, and close the chamber.

As each droplet passes through the detection path, an optical fiber probe measures its optical density, representing the bacterial concentration.

Move the microdroplets back and forth to allow bacterial growth.

Over time, the optical fiber measures the droplet’s optical density, generating a growth curve.

Use a 10 milliliters sterile syringe to inject three to five milliliters of MMC oil from the syringe needle to the side tube into the reagent bottle. Then tilt and rotate the reagent bottle slowly to make the oil fully