Method and system for reference-assisted droplet detection, indexing and sorting for assays and diagnostics

1. A method for detection, indexing and sorting of droplets, comprising:

introducing into a microfluidic device a plurality of water-in-oil droplets that comprise a plurality of assay droplets, as assay samples, and a plurality of reference objects that contain at least one reference material, wherein the reference objects and assay droplets are interspersed in a single-stream manner or a multiple-single-streams manner in the microfluidic device;

collecting signal data representing signals from individual reference objects of the plurality of reference objects and from individual assay droplets of the plurality of assay droplets in the microfluidic device at two or more time-points over a period;

processing the collected signal data to identify the individual reference objects and the individual assay droplets, and to generate a respective position index for each of the individual assay droplets by using two or more reference objects proximal to each of the individual assay droplets as a position reference for a given assay droplet of the assay droplets;

establishing a respective assay-signal kinetics for each of the individual assay droplets over a predefined period of time, wherein each of a number of assay droplets of the plurality of assay droplets with a respective kinetics property meeting a predefined condition is accordingly selected from a total droplet population of the plurality of assay droplets; and

sorting the selected assay droplets with a sorter device by using the respective position index of each of the selected assay droplets as a guide to generate a sorter-device activation signal.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the assay droplets contain a biological sample, a chemical sample, a food sample, a water sample, a forensic sample, an environmental sample, a derivative of one or more thereof, or a mixture of one or more thereof.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the reference objects comprise water-in-oil droplets with a similar shape and size as that of the assay droplets in the microfluidic device, and wherein the size of one of the reference objects is similar to that of one of the assay droplets with a deviation of less than 60%.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the reference objects comprise a solid or liquid-solid-mixed object with a similar shape and size as that of the assay droplets in the microfluidic device, and wherein the size of one of the reference objects is similar to that of one of the assay droplets with a deviation of less than 60%.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the reference material in the reference objects comprises one or more kinds of fluorophore-containing materials selected from a group comprising chemicals, molecules, dyes, proteins, polymers, particles, barcodes and complexes.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the reference material in at least one of the reference objects comprises magnetic or para-magnetic particles, and wherein the magnetic particles have a size ranging from about 1 nm to about 30 μm.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the reference material in the reference objects is of a serial level of concentrations, and wherein the serial level of concentrations ranges from 1 aM (attomolar) to 10 M (molar).

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the reference objects and assay droplets are introduced as a randomly or near randomly interspersed mixture in the microfluidic device with a droplet-to-reference-object ratio ranging from about 3000:1 to about 1:5.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the respective position index for one of the assay droplets comprises:

an identifier representing one, two or more leading strings of tandem droplets immediately ahead of a residence string that contains the respective assay droplet along a flow direction; and

an identifier representing an intra-string position numbering of the respective assay droplet.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the respective position index for one of the assay droplets comprises:

an identifier representing at least one leading droplet-string ahead of a residence string that contains the respective assay droplet along a flow direction;

an identifier representing at least one lagging droplet-string behind; and

an identifier representing an intra-string position numbering of the respective assay droplet.

11. A system for detecting, indexing, and sorting water-in-oil droplets, comprising:

a droplet and reference-object providing module that introduces a plurality of assay droplets and a plurality of reference objects as an interspersed mixture into a microfluidic device;

a signal detection and processing module that collects and processes signal data representing individual reference objects and assay droplets to generate respective position index for individual assay droplets by using two or more proximal reference objects of the plurality of reference objects as a position reference for a given assay droplet of the plurality of assay droplets, wherein the signal detection and processing module generates assay kinetics respectively for individual assay droplets over a predefined period of time to select a pool of droplets from the plurality of assay droplets with a predefined kinetics property; and

a droplet sorting module that retrieves the selected pool of droplets for further analysis or usage.

12. The system of claim 11 , wherein the microfluidic device comprises a droplet-housing structure comprising a straight channel or tube, a curved channel or tube with various curvature features, or a channel or tube with both straight and curvature features, and wherein the channel or tube is configured to house a single stream comprising a droplet/reference-object mixture.

13. The system of claim 11 , wherein the microfluidic device comprises a droplet-housing structure comprising two or more channels or tubes that are configured to house a droplet/reference mixture arranged in parallel single-streams or multiple single-streams.

14. The system of claim 11 , wherein the signal detection and processing module comprises a single detector that detects the signal data representing assay droplets and reference droplets, wherein the single detector comprises an optical signal detector comprising a charge-coupled device (CCD) camera, a complementary metal oxide semiconductor sensor (CMOS), a photomultiplier (PMT), an avalanche photodiode (APD), or a combination thereof.

15. The system of claim 11 , wherein the signal detection and processing module comprises a first detector, that detects assay-readout signals from the assay droplets, and a second detector, that senses signals representing a reference material provided in one of the reference objects, one of the assay droplets, or both.

16. The system of claim 11 , wherein the signal data collection and processing module comprises a dedicated signal acquisition and processing board, and wherein the signal acquisition and processing board collects and processes the signal data in a near real-time manner to render the respective position index for one of the assay droplets by using two or more proximal reference objects of the plurality of reference objects as a position reference map.

17. The system of claim 11 , wherein the droplet sorting module is based on a dielectrophoretic (DEP), an acoustic, a microvalve, a piezoelectric, a dynamic stream deflection, or an electrical capacitance mechanism, which is activated with guidance of the respective position index of each of the selected assay droplets.

18. The system of claim 11 , wherein the reference objects comprise a fluorophore-containing or color-coded reference-material that is detectable using an optical detector.

19. The system of claim 11 , wherein the reference objects comprise a magnetic or paramagnetic reference material that is detectable using a magnetic field sensor.

20. A method for detecting and indexing droplets, comprising:

introducing into a microfluidic device a plurality of water-in-oil droplets that comprise a plurality of assay droplets, as assay samples, and a plurality of reference objects that contain at least one kind of a reference material, wherein the reference objects and assay droplets are interspersed in a single-stream manner or a multiple single-streams manner in the microfluidic device;

collecting signal data representing signals from individual reference objects of the plurality of reference objects and from individual assay droplets of the plurality of assay droplets in the microfluidic device at two or more time-points over a period;

processing the collected signal data to identify the individual reference objects and the individual assay droplets, and to generate a respective position index for each of the individual assay droplets by using two or more proximal reference objects of the plurality of reference objects as a position reference, wherein the respective position index for one of the individual assay droplets is unchanged or largely unchanged over a first predefined period of time; and

establishing respective assay-signal kinetics for each of the individual assay droplets over a second predefined period of time, wherein a number of the assay droplets with a predefined kinetics property are accordingly identified from a total droplet population of the plurality of assay droplets.