A single disposable cartridge for performing a process on a particle, such as particle sorting, encapsulates all fluid contact surfaces in the cartridge for use with microfluidic particle processing technology. The cartridge interfaces with an operating system for effecting particle processing. The encapsulation of the fluid contact surfaces insures, improves or promotes operator isolation and/or product isolation. The cartridge may employ any suitable technique for processing particles.

A sample pretreatment system is equipped with a pipetting device for pipetting multiple primary samples to make multiple aliquot samples. The sample volume expected to be held in a test tube is set as a minimum guaranteed volume for each type of test tube; and a minimum guaranteed volume value is set for each type of the test tubes. A cumulative totaling unit adds up cumulatively the aliquot volumes of the aliquot samples based on pipetting request information with regard to the supplied test tubes. A reading unit reads the minimum guaranteed volume of the supplied test tube; and an aliquot sample preparation unit compares the minimum guaranteed volume successively with the cumulative total values of the aliquot volumes of the aliquot samples, and causes a pipetting device to pipette a maximum number of the aliquot samples in a manner not exceeding the minimum guaranteed volume.

A method for determining a biological response of a target (41, 42) to a soluble candidate substance includes the steps: introducing a soluble candidate substance into a laminar flow of a buffer liquid (2) to form a candidate substance solute (3) having an initial concentration profile (31); dispersing the initial concentration profile (31) to form a dispersed concentration profile (32); directing the dispersed concentration profile (32) into a detection channel (12) to form a final symmetrical concentration profile (33) therein; introducing a target into the detection channel (12) to obtain a combined concentration profile including a constant target concentration profile overlying the final symmetrical concentration profile (33); holding in the detection channel (12) at least one half of the combined concentration profile; and optically scanning the combined concentration profile to detect an optical signal representative of the biological response of the target to the soluble candidate substance.

A lab-on-chip-based system is described for the direct and multiple sampling, control of the volume, fluid filtration, biochemical reactions, sample transfer, and dried spot generation on the conventional and commercial cards for dried fluid spot. Within an all-in-one integrated holder, the invention allows the complete process required to ensure a quantitative analysis of blood, plasma or any other fluids, modification and enrichment of molecule subsets, and formation of a dried fluid spot on the specific spot location of a passive cellulose, non-cellulose, absorbent, or non-absorbent membrane material sampling.

The invention relates to a pipetting apparatus for pipetting laboratory samples into a pipetting container which can be connected to the pipetting apparatus, which pipetting container is in particular designed according to the invention, comprising a container side and a first connection section, by means of which the pipetting container can be connected to the pipetting apparatus, and comprising an information carrying device with at least one information section, which carries information, on this container side; the pipetting apparatus comprising an electric information reading device, by means of which information contained on the information reading device can be read when the pipetting container is connected to the pipetting apparatus, and which comprises at least one electric sensor device, which comprises at least one sensor section, opposite to which a measuring space is formed, wherein the sensor device is configured to read the information content of at least one information section when the latter is arranged in the measuring space. The invention furthermore relates to the pipetting container or adapter element, which can be used with the pipetting apparatus, and a method for the production thereof.

Fluidic devices and methods are provided.

Various aspects of the present invention relate to the control and manipulation of fluidic species, for example, in microfluidic systems. In one aspect, the invention relates to systems and methods for making droplets of fluid surrounded by a liquid, using, for example, electric fields, mechanical alterations, the addition of an intervening fluid, etc. In another aspect, the invention relates to systems and methods for dividing a fluidic droplet into two droplets, for example, through charge and/or dipole interactions with an electric field. The invention also relates to systems and methods for fusing droplets, according to another aspect of the invention, for example, through charge and/or dipole interactions. Another aspect of the invention provides the ability to determine droplets, or a component thereof, for example, using fluorescence and/or other optical techniques (e.g., microscopy), or electric sensing techniques such as dielectric sensing.

The present invention provides a microfluidic system, method and kit for performing assays. The system may comprise a microfluidic device and a detector, wherein the assay yields results that may be read by a detector and analyzed by the system. The assay may comprise one or more chemical or biological reaction against, or performed on, a sample or multiple samples. The sample(s) may become larger and/or smaller during the performance of the assay. The sample(s) may be present within a vehicle, or on a carrier within a vehicle, in the microfluidic device, and wherein the vehicle may become larger and/or smaller during the performance of the assay. The assay may be a cascading assay comprising a series of multiple assays, wherein each assay may be the same or different, and wherein each assay in the series of multiple assays may further comprise one or more process or step.

This document provides methods and devices for metering fluids. In some cases, the methods and devices include intersecting channels that include capillary-stop geometries at each intersection point that guides the fluids on a desired path, which is controlled by the opening and closing of valves. For example, a metering channel can intersect a loading channel and intersect an outflow channel and a metering portion can be defined by the geometry of the metering channel between the intersection points.

A fluidic system that includes a reagent manifold comprising a plurality of channels configured for fluid communication between a reagent cartridge and an inlet of a flow cell; a plurality of reagent sippers extending downward from ports in the manifold, each of the reagent sippers configured to be placed into a reagent reservoir in a reagent cartridge so that liquid reagent can be drawn from the reagent reservoir into the sipper; at least one valve configured to mediate fluid communication between the reservoirs and the inlet of the flow cell. The reagent manifold can also include cache reservoirs for reagent re-use.