The present technology provides for a heater substrate that contains networks of heater elements configured to controllably and selectively deliver heat to one or more PCR reaction chambers in a microfluidic substrate with which the heater substrate makes contact. In exemplary embodiments, the heater substrate can deliver heat to 12, 24, 48, or 96 chambers independently of one another, or simultaneously. The heater substrate is located in a heater unit that may be introduced into a diagnostic apparatus that can receive and position a microfluidic substrate, such as in a cartridge, in contact with the heater unit, receive one or more polynucleotide containing samples into one or more lanes in the microfluidic substrate, and cause amplification of the polynucleotides to occur, and detect presence of absence of specified polynucleotides in the amplified samples.

A method of forming an electrorheological fluid structure with attached conductor and method of fabrication. A polymeric housing may have a channel defined therein. A first conductive trace may at least partially coincide with the channel. A first wire may have a first conductor surrounded by a first insulating jacket. The first conductor may be in electrical communication with the first conductive trace. A jacket bonding region of the first jacket may be welded to a housing bonding region of the housing. The jacket bonding region and the housing bonding region may be formed from a common type of polymer.

Devices, systems, and methods for detecting molecules of interest within a collected sample are described herein. In certain embodiments, self-contained sample analysis systems are disclosed, which include a reusable reader component, a disposable cartridge component, and a disposable sample collection component. In some embodiments, the reader component communicates with a remote computing device for the digital transmission of test protocols and test results. In various disclosed embodiments, the systems, components, and methods are configured to identify the presence, absence, and/or quantity of particular nucleic acids, proteins, or other analytes of interest, for example, in order to test for the presence of one or more pathogens or contaminants in a sample.

The present technology provides for an apparatus for detecting polynucleotides in samples, particularly from biological samples. The technology more particularly relates to microfluidic systems that carry out PCR on nucleotides of interest within microfluidic channels, and detect those nucleotides. The apparatus includes a microfluidic cartridge that is configured to accept a plurality of samples, and which can carry out PCR on each sample individually, or a group of, or all of the plurality of samples simultaneously.

The technology described herein generally relates to systems for extracting polynucleotides from multiple samples, particularly from biological samples, and additionally to systems that subsequently amplify and detect the extracted polynucleotides. The technology more particularly relates to microfluidic systems that carry out PCR on multiple samples of nucleotides of interest within microfluidic channels, and detect those nucleotides.

Methods and systems for processing polynucleotides (e.g., DNA) are disclosed. A processing region includes one or more surfaces (e.g., particle surfaces) modified with ligands that retain polynucleotides under a first set of conditions (e.g., temperature and pH) and release the polynucleotides under a second set of conditions (e.g., higher temperature and/or more basic pH). The processing region can be used to, for example, concentrate polynucleotides of a sample and/or separate inhibitors of amplification reactions from the polynucleotides. Microfluidic devices with a processing region are disclosed.

This patent application describes an integrated apparatus for processing polynucleotide-containing samples, and for providing a diagnostic result thereon. The apparatus is configured to receive a microfluidic cartridge that contains reagents and a network for processing a sample. Also described are methods of using the apparatus.

Embodiments of the invention provide fluidic devices such as, but not limited to, microfluidic chips, with one or more freeze thaw valves (FTVs) employing one or more ice-nucleating agents (INAs), that can reliably operate to freeze at relatively higher temperatures and/or at faster rates than conventional microfluidic devices with FTV systems.

A polymeric housing may have a channel defined therein. A first conductive trace may at least partially coincide with the channel. A first wire may have a first conductor surrounded by a first insulating jacket. The first conductor may be in electrical communication with the first conductive trace. A jacket bonding region of the first jacket may be welded to a housing bonding region of the housing. The jacket bonding region and the housing bonding region may be formed from a common type of polymer.

A device for biofluid processing and analysis includes a microfluidic module including multiple stacked layers, each layer of the stacked layers defines a respective conduit, and conduits of the stacked layers are interconnected to provide a flow path for a biofluid.