A micro pump includes a base plate, a valve membrane, an upper covering plate and a pump core module. The valve membrane is disposed in a valve membrane accommodation slot of the base plate, seals a fluid channel of the base plate and includes a valve aperture where a protruding portion of the base plate extended through. The upper covering plate is accommodated in an upper covering plate accommodation slot of the base plate and includes a fluid relief aperture sealed by the valve membrane, a fluid converging groove and a fluid converging channel between the fluid converging groove and a fluid-outlet channel of the base plate. The pump core module is accommodated within a pump accommodation slot of the base plate. By actuating the pump core module, the fluid passes through the fluid channel, the valve aperture, the fluid converging groove, and is discharged out through the fluid-outlet channel.

A microfluidic chip orients and isolates components in a sample fluid mixture by two step focusing, where sheath fluids compress the sample fluid mixture in a sample input channel in one direction, such that the sample fluid mixture becomes a narrower stream bounded by the sheath fluids, and by having the sheath fluids compress the sample fluid mixture in a second direction further downstream, such that the components are compressed and oriented in a selected direction to pass through an interrogation chamber in single file formation for identification and separation by various methods. The isolation mechanism utilizes external, stacked piezoelectric actuator assemblies disposed on a microfluidic chip holder, or piezoelectric actuator assemblies on-chip, so that the actuator assemblies are triggered by an electronic signal to actuate jet chambers on either side of the sample input channel, to jet selected components in the sample input channel into one of the output channels.

The present disclosure relates to a microfluidic device for measuring one or more parameters in a fluid sample, which includes a sample microfluidic channel disposed on a solid substrate, a reagent microfluidic channel disposed on a solid substrate, a mixing microfluidic channel disposed on a solid substrate, and an optical reading window located downstream of the mixing microfluidic channel, through which a response indicative of the parameter(s) change can be measured optically. The present disclosure also relates to an apparatus for measuring one or more parameters in a fluid sample which includes the microfluidic device as well as a method for measuring one or more parameters in a fluid sample through the device or the apparatus.

A case for an electronic cigarette vaporiser, the case including an automatic lifting mechanism that lifts the vaporiser up a few mm from the case to enable a user to easily grasp the vaporiser and withdraw it from the case. The lifting mechanism can be spring-based. The case both re-fills the vaporiser with liquid and also re-charges a battery in the vaporiser.

The application relates to microfluidic apparatus and methods of use thereof. Provided in one example is a microfluidic device comprising: a first fluidic input and a second fluidic input; and a fluidic intersection channel to receive fluid from the first fluidic input and the second fluidic input, wherein the fluidic intersection channel opens into a first mixing chamber on an upper region of a first side of the first mixing chamber, wherein the first mixing chamber has a length, a width, and a depth, wherein the depth is greater than about 1.5 times a depth of the fluidic intersection channel; an outlet channel on an upper region of a second side of the first mixing chamber, wherein the outlet channel has a depth that is less than the depth of the first mixing chamber, and wherein an opening of the outlet channel is offset along a width of the second side of the first mixing chamber relative to the fluidic intersection.

A microfluidic chip orients and isolates components in a sample fluid mixture by two step focusing, where sheath fluids compress the sample fluid mixture in a sample input channel in one direction, such that the sample fluid mixture becomes a narrower stream bounded by the sheath fluids, and by having the sheath fluids compress the sample fluid mixture in a second direction further downstream, such that the components are compressed and oriented in a selected direction to pass through an interrogation chamber in single file formation for identification and separation by various methods. The isolation mechanism utilizes external, stacked piezoelectric actuator assemblies disposed on a microfluidic chip holder, or piezoelectric actuator assemblies on-chip, so that the actuator assemblies are triggered by an electronic signal to actuate jet chambers on either side of the sample input channel, to jet selected components in the sample input channel into one of the output channels.

The present disclosure is drawn to microfluidic cellular membrane modification devices. In one example, a microfluidic cellular membrane modification device can include a microfluidic channel including a pumping portion and an electric field portion. An electrode pair can be positioned about the electric field portion. A bidirectional pump can be in fluid communication with the microfluidic channel at the pumping portion to move fluid backward and forward through the electric field portion.

A fluid dispenser with a fluid pump for dispensing fluid on movement of an actuator, and an air pump for delivering a stream of air through at least one sound generator on movement of the actuator. The sound generator produces at least two sounds as the actuator is moved from a first position to a second position, with each sound produced in a different time period during a cycle of operation, or differing from the other sound in respect of one or more detectable sound characteristics, such as duration, frequency, temporal alignment, amplitude, and/or timbre. The time period of each sound is a function of the relative location of the actuator between the first and second positions.

A fluid dispenser with a fluid pump for dispensing fluid on movement of an actuator, and an air pump for delivering a stream of air through at least one sound generator on movement of the actuator. The sound generator produces at least two sounds as the actuator is moved from a first position to a second position, with each sound produced in a different time period during a cycle of operation, or differing from the other sound in respect of one or more detectable sound characteristics, such as duration, frequency, temporal alignment, amplitude, and/or timbre. The time period of each sound is a function of the relative location of the actuator between the first and second positions.

An aerosol-generating system may include a liquid storage portion configured to hold liquid aerosol-forming substrate, a vaporizer including a heating element with an internal passage at least partially defined by a surface of the heating element, and a micro pump configured to deliver liquid aerosol-forming substrate from the liquid storage portion to the internal passage of the heating element, such that the vaporizer is configured to heat the delivered liquid aerosol-forming substrate at the internal passage to a temperature sufficient to volatilize at least a part of the delivered liquid aerosol-forming substrate. The micro pump may be configured to deliver a particular amount of liquid aerosol-forming substrate to the internal passage based on the micro pump performing an individual pump cycle.