CYTRIX Microfluidic Hydrogel Kit

A plug-and-play system for microfluidic single-cell hydrogel encapsulation

This ready-to-use Microfluidic Hydrogel Kit, combining the novel CYTRIX hydrogel with Sphere Fluidics’ Pico-Gen™ double aqueous biochip and Pico-Surf™ surfactant, provides:

Efficient encapsulation of mammalian cells, bacteria, and other microorganisms

Industry-leading cytocompatibility of ~95% viability across different cell types

Cell-friendly gelation at physiological pH and temperature

Clog-free microfluidic operation for the generation of homogenous hydrogel beads

Tailorable hydrogel matrices optimized to your custom requirements

Reversible gelation enables simple release of cells at any moment

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The CYTRIX kit solves a key challenge of microfluidic cell encapsulation in hydrogels. It is unique in being both cell-friendly and compatible with microfluidic devices.
David A. Weitz, Mallinckrodt Professor of Physics and Applied Physics, Harvard University

Outstanding cell-friendliness

The CYTRIX hydrogel kit overcomes the challenges of existing microfluidic hydrogel formation techniques, such as temperature control or time-critical mixing procedures. It is an improved version of the original CLEX technology (Håti et al, 2016).

The alginate-based hydrogel system provides a unique cell-friendly alternative to existing microfluidic hydrogel formation techniques that require non-physiological temperatures, pH changes, or UV-light.

Simple microfluidic gel formation

Combined with the Pico-Gen™ double aqueous biochip and Pico-Gen™ surfactant, the biocompatible and microchannel-friendly kit enables the generation of defined, reproducible, tailorable hydrogel microstructures for 3D cell culture, organoids, single-cell analysis, and many other applications.

This allows researchers to individually study valuable cells over many weeks in defined microenvironments that mimic the natural extracellular matrix.

Tunable 3D extracellular matrix

Stable networks allow cell culture over many weeks

The porous hydrogel protects encapsulated cells and allows of nutrients & oxygen to flux in and waste out

The extracellular matrix mimicking scaffold provides ideal niches for adherent cell types

The exceptional homogeneity of the gels ensures comparable culture conditions for all cells

Custom functionalizability of the polymer allows adaptation to application specific needs

Reversible encapsulation

CYTRIX hydrogel beads can be dissolved on-demand to allow for swift release of the encapsulated cells using a mild enzymatic process that does not disturb the encapsulated cells.

Using the CYTRIX kit, you will be able to encapsulate cells, culture and observe them over time, and – whenever you like – release your cells for resuspension, monoclonal expansion, or further analysis.

For 3D cell culture, drug discovery, tissue engineering and more

Applications include but are not limited to:

Single-cell analysis
Tumour heterogeneity
3D cell culture
Organoids and spheroids
Tissue engineering
Synthetic biology
Stem cell differentiation
Immuno-oncology
Cell therapy