The system and cuvette insert is disclosed where the insert has a top surface that includes a first and second vertical channel opening. A first vertical channel extends downwardly from the first vertical channel opening and a second vertical channel extending from the second vertical channel opening. The insert also has a side wall into which the viewing chamber is formed. The viewing chamber has an upper viewing chamber wall and a lower viewing chamber wall. These walls define the viewing chamber and may be substantially parallel to the floor of the cuvette into which the insert is inserted. At the end of the viewing chamber is a reflecting wall. The viewing chamber has two ends, with one end in fluid connection with the first vertical channel and the other end in fluid connection with the second vertical channel. The fluid connection between the viewing chamber and the first vertical channel may also include a first lateral channel. Likewise the fluid connection between the viewing chamber and the second vertical channel may include a second lateral channel.

A detector includes a substrate including a first surface and a second surface opposite to the first surface, a funnel-shaped recess extending from the second surface of the substrate to the first surface of the substrate, a conductive layer disposed below the first surface of the substrate, an insulating layer disposed between the substrate and the conductive layer, and a first through via extending through the conductive layer and the insulating layer, and coupled to the funnel-shaped recess.

This disclosure provides systems, methods, and apparatus related to optofluidic devices. In one aspect, an optofluidic device includes a substrate, a first nanostructure, a second nanostructure, and a cover. A channel having cross-sectional dimensions of less than about 100 nanometers is defined in a surface of the substrate. The first nanostructure is disposed on the substrate on a first side of the channel and proximate the channel. The second nanostructure is disposed on the substrate on a second side of the channel and proximate the channel. The first and the second nanostructures are disposed on a line that passes across the channel. The cover is disposed on the surface of the substrate.

A label-free bio-aerosol sensing platform and method uses a field-portable and cost-effective device based on holographic microscopy and deep-learning, which screens bio-aerosols at a high throughput level. Two different deep neural networks are utilized to rapidly reconstruct the amplitude and phase images of the captured bio-aerosols, and to output particle information for each bio-aerosol that is imaged. This includes, a classification of the type or species of the particle, particle size, particle shape, particle thickness, or spatial feature(s) of the particle. The platform was validated using the label-free sensing of common bio-aerosol types, e.g., Bermuda grass pollen, oak tree pollen, ragweed pollen, Aspergillus spore, and Alternaria spore and achieved >94% classification accuracy. The label-free bio-aerosol platform, with its mobility and cost-effectiveness, will find several applications in indoor and outdoor air quality monitoring.

A device for optically detecting in transmission nanoparticles moving in a fluid sample includes a light source for emitting a spatially incoherent beam for illuminating the sample; an imaging optical system; and a two-dimensional optical detector. The imaging optical system includes a microscope objective. The two-dimensional optical detector includes a detection plane conjugated with an object focal plane of the microscope objective by said imaging optical system. The two-dimensional optical detector allows a sequence of images of an analysis volume of the sample to be acquired, each image resulting from optical interferences between the illuminating beam incident on the sample and the beams scattered by each of the nanoparticles present in the analysis volume during a preset duration shorter than one millisecond. The device further includes an image processor that allows an average of a sequence of said images to be taken and said average to be subtracted from each image in order to determine, for each nanoparticle of the analysis volume, the amplitude of the scattered beam.

Disclosed is a method for detecting toxic metal ions in a sample. The method includes: a) preparing a solution of organic acid-bound gold nanoparticles; b) adding a sample containing toxic metal ions to the solution prepared in a) to allow the gold nanoparticles to aggregate; c) dropping the reaction solution obtained in b) onto a silicon substrate and drying the reaction solution such that the gold nanoparticle aggregates are immobilized on the silicon substrate; and d) analyzing the characteristics of the gold nanoparticles immobilized on the silicon substrate. The method enables the detection of even a trace amount of toxic metal ions in a sample with high sensitivity. Therefore, the method can be applied to the management of water quality in food service providers and hospitals, the measurement of contaminants in water supply and drainage systems, and the management of industrial wastewater. Furthermore, the method is expected to be widely applicable to water purifiers and the food and beverage industry in the future.

Disclosed herein are devices, systems, and methods for sorting a particle based on a characteristic of a particle.

Devices and techniques for a particle positioning device are generally described. In some examples, a fluid may be introduced to a channel formed on a first surface of a substrate. In various examples, the channel may comprise a periodic dielectric structure etched in a first surface of the substrate and a channel wall material. In some examples, a laser beam may be directed through the channel wall material to the periodic dielectric structure. In various further examples, the laser beam may be reflected from the periodic dielectric structure into an interior region of the channel to form a focal enhancement region of the laser beam in the interior region of the channel adjacent to the periodic dielectric structure. In various examples, a force may be exerted on a particle suspended in the fluid with an electric field gradient generated by the focal enhancement region of the laser beam.

A mobile, self contained molecular diagnostics system is provided with a microfluidic chip, detection apparatus and an integrated or wireless control interface and imager. The system provides automated sample preparation and rapid optical detection of multianalyte nucleic acids and proteins. On chip PCR may be performed to improve the optical fluorescence signal for nucleic acid detections. Plasmonic protein detection is performed using a dark field smartphone microscope. Dark field illumination is based on an evanescent field generated by LED total internal reflection. The smartphone element may also be used as an interface to control the detection apparatus, acquire images, process data and for wireless communications with remote computers. The handheld automated system has low power requirements and is particularly suited for point of care and on demand diagnostics in resource limited settings.

This technology relates to the enlargement by water condensation in a laminar flow of airborne particles with diameters of the order of a few nanometers to hundreds of nanometers to form droplets with diameters of the order of several micrometers. The technology presents several advanced designs, including the use of double-stage condensers. It has application to measuring the number concentration of particles suspended in air or other gas, to collecting these particles, or to focusing these particles.