A microfluidic control system and method for controlling the movement of target particles in a fluid. The microfluidic system comprises a fluid channel which is provided with an inlet and a plurality of outlets, and one or more ultra-high frequency sound wave resonators which may generate a bulk acoustic wave having a frequency of about 0.5-50 GHz in the fluid channel; by means of adjusting the shape and orientation of a bulk acoustic wave generating region of the ultra-high frequency bulk acoustic wave resonator, the particles enter a vortex channel caused by the bulk acoustic wave in a solution and move according to the specified position and direction, and the particles in the solution may be controlled and separated to obtain specified particles, or obtain a purified solution after the particles are separated.

Methods and devices for fluidic-based automated regulation of liquid-suspended particles and plug removal (of particles) from possible choke points in the liquid flow channel and methods for multiple parallel particle processing are disclosed. The apparatus comprises flow channels, flow direction means, particle detectors and a control unit.

Provided are an active droplet generating apparatus capable of controlling a droplet size, a method of controlling a droplet size using the same, and a self-diagnosis apparatus for diagnosing generation of a droplet, the active droplet generating apparatus including: a disposable microchannel upper plate; a multifunctional lower plate separated from the disposable microchannel upper plate and configured to be permanently used separately from the disposable microchannel upper plate; a functional polymeric film provided on a lower surface of the upper plate; a negative pressure forming means; and a flow velocity control device configured to adjust the droplet size to a desired size by receiving, by feedback, the voltage value measured by the droplet measuring electrode and controlling flow velocities of the oil and the sample, thereby controlling the droplet size in a feedback control manner by quickly and accurately measuring the droplet size using a capacitance impedance technique.

A microfluidic device and a method for sensing and sorting of cells or particles in a microfluidic channel are disclosed. The microfluidic device may include a substrate with a microfluidic channel having an inlet, the microfluidic channel being coupled with two or more output channels; one or more sensors located adjacent to a first region of the microfluidic channel for sensing respective particles flown through the microfluidic channel; and a first piezoelectric actuator located adjacent to a second region of the microfluidic channel downstream from the first region for deflecting the respective particles flowing through the microfluidic channel to respective output channels of the two or more output channels based on signals from the one or more sensors.

A method includes flowing a first fluid through a first channel of a microfluidic apparatus and flowing a second fluid through a second channel of the microfluidic apparatus. The first fluid comprises biological material and a matrix material and is immiscible with the second fluid. The first and second fluids are combined at a junction to form droplets of the first fluid dispersed in the second fluid in a third channel. Multiple exposures of a droplet in the third channel are captured in a single image, comprising: illuminating a region of the third channel with multiple successive illumination pulses during a single frame of the imaging device; identifying the droplet and determining a velocity or a size of the droplet based on an analysis of the captured exposures; and controlling the flow of the first fluid or second fluid to obtain droplets of a target size or velocity.

A method and a system are provided for detecting particles moving through a detection region or regions for facilitating or processing a sample having one or more particles flowing through the detection region. The particle detection system may include an optically detectable pattern associated with a detection region. The optically detectable pattern may be configured to receive a particle optical signal and produce a patterned optical signal. The detection system may further include a detector configured to analyze the patterned optical signal to determine both a particle characteristic based on a property of the particle optical signal and a particle parameter based on a property of the optically detectable pattern.

The present invention describes a fluidic device for measuring at least one of corpuscle mass density and weight. The fluidic device comprises a sedimentation chamber fluidly connected to an inlet channel configured to be immersed in a liquid. The fluidic device further comprises a pumping system connected to the sedimentation chamber. The pumping system is adapted to control the flow of liquid in the sedimentation chamber. A processor of the fluidic device is configured to obtain corpuscle data related to a corpuscle in at least one region of the sedimentation chamber; and calculate at least one of corpuscle mass density and weight based on the data received.

A method of foreign object debris discrimination includes illuminating a particle located within a sensing volume with a modulated electromagnetic radiation pulse emitted from a source; receiving one or more electromagnetic radiation return signals that have been scattered by the particle illuminated by the modulated electromagnetic radiation pulse at a detector; mixing, using a controller, the electromagnetic radiation return signal of amplitude I.sub.RS and frequency f.sub.RS with a reference signal of amplitude I.sub.LS and frequency f.sub.RS; analyzing, using the controller, an amplitude of the mixed signal {square root over (I.sub.LSI.sub.RS)}, and frequency of the mixed signal, f.sub.RSf.sub.LS; and classifying, using the controller, a particle position, a velocity, and electromagnetic characteristic of the particle based on the amplitude, {square root over (I.sub.LSI.sub.RS)}, and frequency, f.sub.RSf.sub.LS, of the mixed signal.

Example microfluidic devices and methods for sensing and sorting of particles in a microfluidic channel are disclosed. An example microfluidic device includes a substrate with a microfluidic channel having an inlet, a first region, and a second region, the microfluidic channel being coupled with output channels. The example microfluidic device also includes one or more sensors located adjacent to the first region for sensing respective particles, and an inlet piezoelectric actuator located adjacent to the inlet and configured to facilitate input mixing of samples. The example microfluidic device further includes a first piezoelectric actuator located adjacent to the second region and configured to deflect the respective particles to respective output channels based on signals from the one or more sensors, and a set of one or more outlet piezoelectric actuators located adjacent to at least one of the output channels and configured to facilitate ejection of the respective particles.

A process tube device can detect the presence of any external materials that may reside within a fluid flowing in the tube. The process tube device detects the external materials in-situ which obviates the need for a separate inspection device to inspect the surface of a wafer after applying fluid on the surface of the wafer. The process tube device utilizes at least two methods of detecting the presence of external materials. The first is the direct measurement method in which a light detecting sensor is used. The second is the indirect measurement method in which a sensor utilizing the principles of Doppler shift is used. Here, contrary to the first method that at least partially used reflected or refracted light, the second method uses a Doppler shift sensor to detect the presence of the external material by measuring the velocity of the fluid flowing in the tube.