The invention relates to a process and a device for analysing single molecules, particularly to the parallel analysis of a plurality of single molecules. It is suitable for detecting interactions, e.g. binding between single molecules and/or reactions, e.g. elongation or degradation of single molecules. Particularly, the process of the invention relates to the sequencing of single nucleic acid molecules. The single molecule to be analysed is present in free form, i.e. dissolved or suspended in a liquid medium, within a reaction space formed around the sample spot. According to the present invention, an electrical field is applied across the reaction space, whereby a concentration of single molecules, at the sample spots is effected.

Provided herein are systems and methods for characterizing target/ligand engagement. In particular, luciferase-labeled polypeptide targets are used to detect or quantify target/ligand engagement (e.g., within a cell or cell lysate).

Compact optical sources and methods for producing short and ultrashort optical pulses are described. A semiconductor laser or LED may be driven with a bipolar waveform to generate optical pulses with FWHM durations as short as approximately 85 ps having suppressed tail emission. The pulsed optical sources may be used for fluorescent lifetime analysis of biological samples and time-of-flight imaging, among other applications.

A photoluminescent material can be applied to part of a substrate as part of substrate inspection. The photoluminescent material includes a conjugated polymer having a coiled macroscopic molecular shape and a meta-linkage or an ortho-linkage. The substrate is imaged using an inspection system. The conjugated polymer can be, for example, poly(m-phenylene ethynylene) (PPE) or poly(para-phenylene vinylene) (PPV).

Various embodiments may provide a method of illuminating a sample plane. The method may include providing an illumination subsystem, the illumination subsystem including an optical source and at least one lens, having an optic axis at an incident angle greater than 0° and less than 90° to a normal of the sample plane. The method may also include rotating the illumination subsystem about a pivot point between the optical source and the sample plane along the optic axis so that an adjusted illumination distribution generated by the illumination subsystem at the sample plane has greater symmetry compared to a reference illumination distribution generated by the illumination subsystem at the sample plane without the rotation about the pivot point.

The technology disclosed relates to classification of process cycle images to predict success or failure of process cycles. The technology disclosed includes capturing and processing images of sections arranged on an image generating chip in genotyping process. Image description features of production cycle images are created and given as input to classifiers. A trained classifier separates successful production images from unsuccessful or failed production images. The failed production images are further classified by a trained root cause classifier into various categories of failure.

Disclosed herein are devices, systems, methods and kits for performing immunoassay tests on a sample. The immunoassay devices may be used in conjunction with diagnostic reader systems for obtaining a sensitive read-out of the immunoassay results. The immunoassay devices may be especially suited for the detection of at least a first analyte and a second analyte in a sample. The immunoassay devices and methods may utilize a competitive binding-like assay and a sandwich binding assay to detect analytes in a sample.

A method and device are provided for evaluating hair growth treatments by applying markers to a hair area at different times to measure pre-treatment hair volume and post-treatment hair volume. By comparing changes in hair volume within one or more hairs, an effectiveness of the hair regrowth treatment can be measured.

Provided herein are methods for inkjet printing objects, including objects which may be used as elements of microfluidic devices. The microfluidic devices incorporating the elements are also provided. Such microfluidic devices include those configured to quantify the expression and activity of exosomal matrix metalloprotease, MMP14. These microfluidic devices may be used in methods of monitoring breast cancer in patients having breast cancer.

Sensitive detection of IgG antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 is important to assessing immune responses to viral infection or vaccination and immunity duration. Antibody assays using non-invasive body fluids such as saliva could facilitate mass testing including young children, elderly and those who resist blood draws, and easily allowing longitudinal testing/monitoring of antibodies over time. Here, we developed a new lateral flow (nLF) assay that sensitively detects SARS-CoV-2 IgG antibodies in the saliva samples of vaccinated individuals and previous COVID-19 patients. The 25 minutes nLF assay detected anti-spike protein (anti-S1) IgG in saliva samples with 100% specificity and high sensitivity from both vaccinated (99.51% for samples ≥19 days post 1st Pfizer or Moderna mRNA vaccine dose) and infected individuals. Antibodies against nucleocapsid protein (anti-NCP) was detected only in the saliva samples of COVID-19 patients and not in vaccinated samples, allowing facile differentiation of vaccination from infection. Salivary SARS-CoV-2 anti-S1 IgG antibodies correlated with that in matched dried blood spot (DBS) samples measured by a quantitative pGOLD™ lab-test, showing similar evolution trends post vaccination. The new salivary rapid test platform is applicable to non-invasive detection of antibodies against infection and vaccination for a wide range of diseases.