A system for deforming and analyzing particles includes a substrate defining an inlet, and an outlet; a fluidic pathway fluidly coupled to the inlet and the outlet and defining a delivery region upstream of a deformation region configured to deform particles, wherein the fluidic pathway comprises a first branch configured to generate a first flow, and a second branch configured to generate a second flow that opposes the first flow, wherein an intersection of the first flow and the second flow defines the deformation region; a detection module including a sensor configured to generate a morphology dataset characterizing deformation of the particles, and a photodetector configured to generate a fluorescence dataset characterizing fluorescence of the particles; and a processor configured to output an analysis of the plurality of particles based at least in part on the deformation dataset and the fluorescent dataset for the plurality of particles.

A system and/or method for determining an immune activation state of a subject can include: deforming leukocytes within a microfluidic channel, acquiring a plurality of images of the leukocytes, determining biophysical parameters of the leukocyte, adjusting the biophysical parameters, and determining the immune activation state of the subject based on the biophysical parameters.

A system for deforming a plurality of particles carried in a sample volume includes a reusable substrate defining an inlet, configured to receive the sample volume, and an outlet, wherein the inlet or outlet is configured to couple to a module to introduce or collect a washing or flushing solution. A fluidic pathway is disposed in the reusable substrate and fluidically couples to the inlet and the outlet and includes a delivery region fluidically coupled to the inlet and configured to focus the plurality of particles along at least one streamline and a deformation region located downstream with respect to the delivery region and formed by an intersection of the fluidic pathway and an opposing inlet channel, wherein flow of a fluid from the opposing inlet channel at the intersection mechanically deforms the plurality of particles passing through the deformation region.

The invention in some aspects relates to high throughput methods and devices for evaluating mechanical, morphological, kinetic, rheological or hematological properties of cells, such as blood cells under regulated gas conditions. In some aspects, the invention relates to methods and devices for diagnosing and/or characterizing a condition or disease in a subject by measuring a property of a cell from the subject, under controlled gas conditions.

An imaging system according to an embodiment may include an ultrasonic oscillation part configured to apply ultrasonic waves to a sample, an image acquisition part configured to acquire a plurality of images of the sample deformed by the ultrasonic waves, and a computation part configured to compute a deformation rate on the basis of a change in thickness of the sample from the plurality of images, in which the computation part computes an elastic modulus of the sample on the basis of intensity of the ultrasonic waves and the deformation rate of the sample.

A system is disclosed that enables the automated measurement of cellular mechanical parameters at high throughputs. The microfluidic device uses intersecting flows to create an extensional flow region where the cells undergo controlled stretching. Cells are focused into streamlines prior to entering the extensional flow region. In the extensional region, each cell's deformation is measured with an imaging device. Automated image analysis extracts a range of independent biomechanical parameters from the images. These may include cell size, deformability, and circularity. The single cell data that is obtained may then be used to in a variety of ways. Scatter density plots of deformability and circularity may be developed and displayed for the user. Mechanical parameters such as deformability and circularity may be gated or thresholded to identify certain cells of interest or sub-populations of interest. Similarly, the mechanical data obtained using the device may be used as cell signatures.

An analysis method and device including detecting at least one particle of matter in a fluid inside in a reaction chamber and correlating a change in the particle to a physicochemical property of the matter.

A system for dissociating cells from a cell culture vessel. The system comprises an imaging system configured to image a plurality of cells in a cell culture vessel being dissociated from at least one surface of the cell culture vessel by at least one cell dissociation agent; and at least one controller coupled to the imaging system and configured to: control the imaging system to capture a sequence of images of at least some cells in the plurality of cells during dissociation; and identify when to neutralize the at least one cell dissociation agent using the sequence of images.

A system is disclosed that enables the automated measurement of cellular mechanical parameters at high throughputs. The microfluidic device uses intersecting flows to create an extensional flow region where the cells undergo controlled stretching. Cells are focused into streamlines prior to entering the extensional flow region. In the extensional region, each cell's deformation is measured with an imaging device. Automated image analysis extracts a range of independent biomechanical parameters from the images. These may include cell size, deformability, and circularity. The single cell data that is obtained may then be used to in a variety of ways. Scatter density plots of deformability and circularity may be developed and displayed for the user. Mechanical parameters such as deformability and circularity may be gated or thresholded to identify certain cells of interest or sub-populations of interest. Similarly, the mechanical data obtained using the device may be used as cell signatures.

A system for deforming and analyzing a plurality of particles carried in a sample volume includes a substrate defining an inlet, configured to receive the sample volume, and an outlet; and a fluidic pathway fluidly coupled to the inlet and the outlet. The fluidic pathway includes a delivery region configured to receive the plurality of particles from the inlet and focus the plurality of particles from a random distribution to a focused state, a deformation region defining an intersection located downstream of the delivery region and coupled to the outlet, and wherein the deformation region is configured to receive the plurality of particles from the delivery region and to transmit each particle in the plurality of particles into the intersection from a single direction, a first branch fluidly coupled to the deformation region and configured to transmit a first flow into the intersection, and a second branch fluidly coupled to the deformation region and configured to transmit a second flow, substantially opposing the first flow, into the intersection, wherein the first flow and the second flow are configured to induce extension of one or more particles in the plurality of particles.