A microfluidic apparatus for delivering droplets of a first fluid to droplets of a second fluid, comprising a main channel, with a carrier fluid carrying droplets of the second fluid, an auxiliary channel, fluidly coupled to the main channel at a first intersection via a first orifice with a first fluid interface, and at a second intersection downstream to the first intersection via a second orifice with a second fluid interface, wherein a flow of the carrier fluid induces a difference of pressure between the first and second orifice generating a balance condition such that a meniscus of the second fluid interface is maintained in the auxiliary channel, at the vicinity of the second orifice, wherein a balance deviation triggers a release of a volume of the first fluid from the second fluid interface into the main channel.

A method and system are provided for extracting a target analyte from a sample using acoustic ejection technology. The method involves applying focused acoustic energy to a fluid reservoir housing a fluid composition that contains a target analyte and comprises an upper region and a lower region, where the concentration of the target analyte in the upper region differs from that in the lower region. The focused acoustic energy is applied in a manner that is effective to result in the ejection of a fluid droplet from from the fluid composition into a droplet receiver, wherein the concentration of the analyte in the droplet corresponds to either the concentration of the analyte in the upper region or the concentration of the analyte in the lower region, and wherein the concentration of the analyte is substantially uniform throughout the droplet. The fluid composition may comprise an ionic liquid, used in the extraction of ionic target analytes. Related methods and an acoustic extraction system are also provided.

A matrix droplet extruder includes a casing; one or a plurality of reagent containers; a plurality of pneumatic connectors on the casing that are each configured to be connected to a pneumatic actuator to provide controlled pneumatic pressure to one or more of said plurality of the pneumatic connectors; a droplet matrix extrusion surface with one or a plurality of printing zones, each printing zone comprising an array of perforations; and a liquid management chip for dispensing one or more reagents from said one or a plurality of reagent containers through the array of perforations of said one or a plurality of printing zones, so as to repeatedly generate a matrix of droplets when applying the pneumatic pressure to said one or more reagents.

The present invention generally relates to systems and methods for the control of fluids and, in some cases, to systems and methods for flowing a fluid into and/or out of other fluids. As examples, fluid may be injected into a droplet contained within a fluidic channel, or a fluid may be injected into a fluidic channel to create a droplet. In some embodiments, electrodes may be used to apply an electric field to one or more fluidic channels, e.g., proximate an intersection of at least two fluidic channels. For instance, a first fluid may be urged into and/or out of a second fluid, facilitated by the electric field. The electric field, in some cases, may disrupt an interface between a first fluid and at least one other fluid. Properties such as the volume, flow rate, etc. of a first fluid being urged into and/or out of a second fluid can be controlled by controlling various properties of the fluid and/or a fluidic droplet, for example curvature of the fluidic droplet, and/or controlling the applied electric field.

Microfluidic devices are described that include a microfluidic channel, a first array of one or more magnets above the microfluidic channel, each magnet in the first array having a magnetic pole orientation opposite to a magnetic pole orientation of an adjacent magnet in the first array, and a second array of one or more magnets beneath the microfluidic channel, each magnet in the second array having a magnetic pole orientation opposite to a magnetic pole orientation of an adjacent magnet in the second array. The first array is aligned with respect to the second array such that magnetic fields emitted by the first array and second array generate a magnetic flux gradient profile extending through the channel. An absolute value of the profile includes a first maximum and a second maximum that bound a local minimum. The local minimum is located within the microfluidic channel or less than 5 mm away from a wall of the microfluidic channel. Methods of using the new devices are also described.

The present subject matter relates to systems and methods for the formulation of inks from stock solutions in which a liquid handler is configured to draw samples from a plurality of solution components and mix the components together to create one or more ink formulations, and a dispensing robot is configured to transfer the one or more ink formulations to a common substrate to form one or more material samples or a coating element in communication with the liquid handler is configured to transfer the one or more ink formulations to a common substrate to form one or more material samples. A controller in communication with each of the liquid handler and the dispensing robot can be configured to coordinate the creation and transfer of the one or more ink formulations. In addition, the one or more material samples can be analyzed using one or more characterization instrument configured to characterize the material samples on the common substrate.

An open-type liquid manipulation device can divide liquid, in particular, a droplet efficiently. The open-type liquid manipulation device according to the present invention includes: a substrate 1, 11, 21; at least three electrodes 2, 12, 13, 22, 23 located on a front surface 1b, 11b, 21b of the substrate 1, 11, 21; and an insulating layer 3, 14, 24 located over the front surface 1b, 11b, 21b of the substrate 1, 11, 21 to cover the at least three electrodes 2, 12, 13, 22, 23. The device includes a groove 4, 15, 25 that is concave in a direction from a front surface 3b, 14b, 24b of the insulating layer 3, 14, 24 toward a back surface 3a, 14a, 24a of the insulating layer 3, 14, 24. The groove 4, 15, 25 extends straddling the at least three electrodes. Liquid L is controlled on the front surface 3b, 14b, 24b of the insulating layer 3, 14, 24 by using a change in electrostatic force generated by changing voltage applied to the electrodes 2, 12, 13, 22, 23.

The invention relates to a pipetting device having tube with an opening at one end for suctioning or discharging a sample fluid, and can be operatively connected to a pressure generation device at the other end. A first electrode is formed on the pipetting device that forms a measuring capacitor together with a second electrode formed by at least one part of the sample fluid and that can be received in the tube and the measuring capacitor is operatively connected to a measuring unit, and the measuring unit is designed to determine a volume of the suctioned or discharged sample fluid according to the capacity of the measuring capacitor. The invention also relates to a fluid processing system having a pipetting device of this type, as well as a method for determining a processed fluid volume during pipetting with a pipetting device of this type.

A single-piece hybrid droplet generator and nozzle component for serial crystallography. The single-piece hybrid droplet generator component including an internally-formed droplet-generation channel, an internally-formed sample channel, a nozzle, and a pair of electrode chambers. The droplet-generation channel extends from a first fluid inlet opening to the nozzle. The sample channel extends from a second fluid inlet opening to the droplet-generation channel and joins the droplet-generation channel at a junction. The nozzle is configured to eject a stream of segmented aqueous droplets in a carrier fluid from the droplet-generation channel through a nozzle opening of the single-piece component. The pair of electrode chambers are positioned adjacent to the droplet-generation channel near the junction between the droplet-generation channel and the sample channel. The timing of sample droplets in the stream of fluid ejected through the nozzle is controlled by applying a triggering signal to electrodes positioned in the electrode chambers of the single-piece component.

Devices and systems for droplet generation and methods for generating droplets are described. In an embodiment, the devices and systems include a capillary configured to eject a droplet, such as in response to a voltage applied to an end of the capillary. In an embodiment, the devices and systems include a moveable stage configured to carry a multi-well plate and move the stage relative to the capillary such that the ejected droplet is selectively received by a well of the multi-well plate carried by the moveable stage.