Two-photon fluorescence lifetime for label-free microfluidic droplet sorting

Microfluidic droplet sorting systems facilitate automated selective micromanipulation of compartmentalized micro- and nano-entities in a fluidic stream. Current state-of-the-art droplet sorting systems mainly rely on fluorescence detection in the visible range with the drawback that pre-labeling steps are required. This limits the application range significantly, and there is a high demand for alternative, label-free methods. Therefore, we introduce time-resolved two-photon excitation (TPE) fluorescence detection with excitation at 532 nm as a detection technique in droplet microfluidics. This enables label-free in-droplet detection of small aromatic compounds that only absorb in a deep-UV spectral region. Applying time-correlated single-photon counting, compounds with similar emission spectra can be distinguished due to their fluorescence lifetimes. This information is then used to trigger downstream dielectrophoretic droplet sorting. In this proof-of-concept study, we developed a polydimethylsiloxane-fused silica (FS) hybrid chip that simultaneously provides a very high optical transparency in the deep-UV range and suitable surface properties for droplet microfluidics. The herein developed system incorporating a 532-nm picosecond laser, time-correlated single-photon counting (TCSPC), and a chip-integrated dielectrophoretic pulsed actuator was exemplarily applied to sort droplets containing serotonin or propranolol. Furthermore, yeast cells were screened using the presented platform to show its applicability to study cells based on their protein autofluorescence via TPE fluorescence lifetime at 532 nm. GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT: [Image: see text] SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s00216-021-03745-2.