iSort enables automated complex microfluidic droplet sorting in an effort to democratize technology

Fluorescence-activated droplet sorting (FADS) is a widely used microfluidic technique for high-throughput screening. However, it requires highly trained specialists to determine optimal sorting parameters, and this results in a large combinatorial space that is challenging to optimize systematically. Additionally, it is currently challenging to track every single droplet within a screen, leading to compromised sorting and "hid-den"false-positive events. To overcome these limitations, we have developed a setup in which the droplet frequency, spacing, and trajectory at the sorting junction are monitored in real time using impedance anal-ysis. The resulting data are used to continuously optimize all parameters automatically and to counteract perturbations, resulting in higher throughput, higher reproducibility, increased robustness, and a beginner-friendly character. We believe this provides a missing piece for the spreading of phenotypic sin-gle-cell analysis methods, similar to what we have seen for single-cell genomics platforms.