There is provided a liquid handling system for dispensing liquid, comprising a pipette tip and a plunger. The pipette tip has: a proximal end and a distal end and a longitudinal axis extending therebetween; an aperture at the distal end, a fluid cavity extending from the aperture at least partly towards the proximal end; an end portion disposed at the distal end, having an inner wall extending at an angle of at most 10 degrees relative to the longitudinal axis. The plunger is positioned inside the pipette tip, configured to extend between the proximal and distal ends of the pipette tip, and movable toward and away from the aperture. The system is configured to carry out at least two different operating methods for dispensing liquid.

The disclosure relates to a method and a system for the isolation of picoliter droplets from a continuous stream of carrier fluid in a microfluidic system. In particular the disclosure relates to a system that comprises a sorter, a detector and a collector. The sorter serves for a selection of picoliter droplets with a desired content based upon an optical signal obtained from the picoliter droplets. The selected picoliter droplets are guided towards the detector that comprises a detection channel that is arranged perpendicular to a light beam. By means of a photodetector that is aligned with the optical axis of the light beam the passage of the picoliter droplets can be detected. The collector comprises multiple wells and the detection of the passage of the picoliter droplets results in a relative movement of the detector and a collector such that the picoliter droplet is isolated by depositing it into one of said wells. The disclosure moreover relates to a method that uses such a system to isolate individual picoliter droplets. In particular the disclosure relates to a method that allows for an analysis and/or further processing of the content of the picoliter droplets that have been isolated from a microfluidic system by depositing them into a well.

Described herein is a system for on-demand synthesis/analysis of compounds and/or diagnostic applications. In general, any application that requires a low-cost binary switch valve array for fast (<100 ms) switching of gases or liquids, in a spatially compact format, is compatible with the system described herein.

Means and methods for dispensing small amounts of liquid from multi-channel microdispensing devices, suitable for use in automatic processing in biological assays and for the cultivation of cells and tissues, by means of optical control of the dosed liquid by specific light barrier units.

Instrument for performing a diagnostic test on a fluidic cartridge A cartridge reader is for carrying out a diagnostic test on a sample contained in a fluidic cartridge inserted into the reader. The fluidic cartridge comprises a fluidic layer comprising at least one sample processing region, at least one collapsible blister containing a liquid reagent, a pneumatic interface, an electrical interface and at least one mechanical valve. The reader comprises a housing; an upper clamp occupying a fixed position relative to the reader, and a lower clamp, movable relative to the first clamp, wherein the upper clamp and the lower clamp define a cartridge receiving region therebetween. The reader comprises a thermal module comprised in the lower clamp, wherein the thermal module comprises at least one thermal stack for heating the at least one sample processing region of the cartridge inserted into the reader. The reader comprises at least one mechanical actuator for actuating the mechanical valve comprised in the cartridge inserted into the reader.

A cartridge reader is configured to carry out a diagnostic test on a fluid sample contained within a fluidic cartridge. The cartridge comprises first, second and third collapsible blisters containing at least one reagent for use in the diagnostic test. The cartridge reader comprises an upper clamp, occupying a fixed position relative to the reader and a lower clamp, movable relative to the upper clamp, and wherein the upper clamp and the lower clamp are configured to receive and hold a fluidic cartridge therebetween. First, second and third blister actuators are mounted on the upper clamp, for aligning with first, second and third collapsible blisters of a fluidic cartridge inserted into the reader. The first, second and third blister actuators are movable relative to the upper clamp, between a first position in which the blister actuators are spaced apart from the collapsible blisters comprised on the fluidic cartridge received between the upper and lower clamps, and a second position in which the blister actuators depress the collapsible blisters, thereby collapsing the blisters and ejecting the reagents contained therein into a channel in the microfluidic cartridge.

Instrument for performing a diagnostic test on a fluidic cartridge A cartridge reader is for carrying out a diagnostic test on a sample contained in a fluidic cartridge inserted into the reader. The fluidic cartridge comprises a fluidic layer comprising at least one sample processing region, at least one collapsible blister containing a liquid reagent, a pneumatic interface, an electrical interface and at least one mechanical valve. The reader comprises a housing; an upper clamp occupying a fixed position relative to the reader, and a lower clamp, movable relative to the first clamp, wherein the upper clamp and the lower clamp define a cartridge receiving region therebetween. The reader comprises a thermal module comprised in the lower clamp, wherein the thermal module comprises at least one thermal stack for heating the at least one sample processing region of the cartridge inserted into the reader. The reader comprises at least one mechanical actuator for actuating the mechanical valve comprised in the cartridge inserted into the reader.