According to an example, a microfluidic apparatus may include a channel, a foyer, in which the foyer is in fluid communication with the channel and in which the channel has a smaller width than the foyer, a sensor to sense a property of a fluid passing through the channel, a nozzle in fluid communication with the foyer, and an actuator positioned in line with the nozzle. The microfluidic apparatus may also include a controller to determine whether the sensed property of the fluid meets a predetermined condition and to perform a predefined action in response to the sensed property of the fluid meeting the predetermined condition.

A manipulation apparatus and a manipulation method for performing culturing, manipulation, and analysis of minute samples such as cells and microbes on a large scale, the manipulation apparatus including a stage unit on which a predetermined cell incubator is mounted and a probe array unit having a plurality of probes. The probe array unit includes a first probe array and a second probe array. The first probe array includes a plurality of probes arranged side by side at a predetermined pitch along the X-axis direction. The second probe array includes a plurality of probes arranged side by side at a predetermined pitch along the Y-axis direction.

Systems and methods are provided for sample processing. A device may be provided, capable of receiving the sample, and performing one or more of a sample preparation, sample assay, and detection step. The device may be capable of performing multiple assays. The device may comprise one or more modules that may be capable of performing one or more of a sample preparation, sample assay, and detection step. The device may be capable of performing the steps using a small volume of sample.

A method and device are provided for detecting a target in a biological sample. The target binds to a solid phase substrate. First and second cavities in a plate are filled with an oil. The first and second cavities are in fluid communication with each other. The solid phase substrate is magnetically drawn sequentially from a drop of the biological sample in the first cavity, through the oil, into a drop of the reaction solution in the second cavity. A change in a parameter of the drop of the reaction solution indicates the presence of the target.

A microfluidic dispenser can include a processor to receive a user input via a user interface related to limiting dilution (or a limiting dilution assay) to be performed, and calculate a dispense volume of a fluid for the limiting dilution based on the user input. The microfluidic dispenser can also include a dispense cassette including a fluid reservoir, and a microfluidic dispense head to dispense the fluid via a nozzle in accordance with the calculated dispense volume.

A liquid dispensing apparatus includes a mounting unit on which a liquid discharging device is mounted, a driving circuit to supply driving voltages to an actuator of the liquid discharging device mounted on the mounting unit, a capacitance measuring circuit configured to measure a capacitance value of the actuator and a controller configured to acquire the capacitance value, compare the capacitance value to a predetermined threshold value, and determine whether to supply a first control signal to the driving circuit to drive the actuator of the liquid discharging device to discharge a liquid based on the comparison of the capacitance value to the predetermined threshold value.

The present invention relates to an immunoassay method and an immunoassay device.

According to an aspect of the present invention, provided is an immunoassay device including: a stage capable of accommodating a plurality of cartridges having a plurality of wells; a solution transfer unit including a plurality of tips, which are movable relative to the stage and disposed to correspond to a position of the cartridge so as to suction a solution stored in each of the wells or discharge the suctioned solution from the well; and a control unit controlling the stage and the solution transfer unit to be relatively movable and controlling suction or discharge of a content into/from the plurality of tips.

The present invention relates to an immunoassay device and an immunoassay method.

According to an aspect of the present invention, an immunoassay device includes a measurement unit provided with a detection unit disposed at one side of a stage accommodating cartridges having a plurality of wells to move in a direction, in which the plurality of cartridges are arranged, and capable of measuring a state within the well disposed at the outermost side, and including a shielding plate that moves to cover an opened upper portion of the well disposed at the outermost side to block introduction of light into the well.

The present disclosure is directed to a dispensing system for providing a preset small volume of liquid ≤200 μl into a filling area of a microfluidic sample carrier comprising at least one flow channel, the system including, inter alia, at least one interface unit provided for each flow channel of the microfluidic sample carrier, with each interface unit comprising an injector with an injection channel, wherein the cross section of an outlet part of the injection channel is larger than a cross section of an inlet part of the injection channel and of the middle part of the injection channel. Furthermore, the present disclosure relates to a respective microfluidic sample carrier sealing system and to a respective method of dispensing sealing liquid into a microfluidic sample carrier.

A linear actuator (10) for use in a modular assembly of such actuators comprises an actuator body (11), a shaft (12) guided by the body to be displaceable relative thereto in the sense of tlte longitudinal axis (13) of the shaft and a drive motor enclosed in the body and operable to axially displace the shaft relative to the body in two mutually opposite directions. The body has two mutually opposite sides (15a, 15b) respectively lying in two substantial parallel spaced-apart planes, which each represent a reference plane for positioning the body side-by-side with the body of another such actuator, and a further side (17b) connecting the two mutually opposite sides and stepped to form a projection (18) receiving the shaft (12) with the axis (13) parallel to the two planes and a rebate (19) beside the projection to permit the body to interlock with the body of another such actuator at that further side. The projection (18) and rebate (19) are of substantially the same width in the sense of the spacing of the two planes and the shaft (12) is disposed substantially centrally of the projection (18) so that when the body (11) is interlocked with that of another such actuator the pitch of the shaft axes (13) is equal to that width.