Welcome to the Hui Lab!

Our group is focused on utilizing droplet-on-demand microfluidic control system and pneumatic digital logic to invesitgate diverse biological questions. From cancer drug screening and spatial multiomics to hormone stimulation and protoplast transfection, we perform complex assays in nanoliter-scale using custom-built microfluidics platform.

Microfluidic Computing

Pneumatic microfluidic valves are similar in many ways to electronic transistors, suggesting the possibility of constructing mechanical computers out of microfluidic circuits. Following this strategy, we have built a variety of digital logic systems, including a programmable finite state machine.

These logic circuits can control networks of pumps and valves for liquid handling, allowing multistep laboratory procedures to be encoded into autonomous microfluidic networks. These devices contain no electronics and are powered simply by a static pressure differential. We envision that this technology will be attractive for laboratory automation and point-of-care medical applications.

Droplet-on-Demand

DropShop is a droplet-on-demand microfluidic platform that generates custom-formulated droplets with precise control over size and composition. Operating at the nanoliter scale, DropShop reduces reagent consumption by 1000-fold compared to standard wellplate assays using test tubes and pipettes.

Unlike conventional droplet-based microfluidics that produce droplets with homogeneous composition and size, DropShop enables independent control of each droplet’s composition. This provides experimental flexibility similar to traditional pipetting while leveraging the efficiency of microfluidic miniaturization.

Small Model Manipulation

Experimental tools for handling and manipulating organ and animal models with microscale precision enable new scientific studies.