Systems and methods for positive dispense verification. In one aspect, a system has a plurality of light emitters. The light from the emitters is directed toward a plurality of light detectors across a proximately horizontal plane. The liquid dispense device is positioned above the horizontal plane of light emission from the plurality of light emitters to the plurality of light detectors such that the dispensed liquid will travel through the horizontal plane defined by the emitted light and onto the container being inoculated. Each of the plurality of detectors is coupled to an amplifier. The amplifier generates a signal in response to an interrupt in the transmission of light from the light emitters to the light detectors when the light path is disrupted by the dispense of liquid confirming the liquid was dispensed onto the container.

Method of analysis. In the method, a first emulsion and a second emulsion substantially separated from one another by a spacer fluid may be formed. The first emulsion, the spacer fluid, and the second emulsion may be flowed in a channel from a fluid inlet to a fluid outlet of a heating and cooling station having two or more temperature-controlled zones, such that each emulsion is thermally cycled to promote amplification of a nucleic acid target in droplets of the emulsion. Amplification data may be collected from individual droplets of each emulsion downstream of the heating and cooling station. A level of the nucleic acid target present in each emulsion may be determined based on the amplification data collected from the individual droplets of the emulsion.

A dispenser for taking up and discharging fluid volumes which has an exchangeable piston-cylinder unit. The dispenser has a housing and a device for incremental distance measurement that, when there is relative movement between the piston and the cylinder, the distance traveled by the piston relative to the housing can be determined incrementally. The dispenser has a piston actuation member which can be releasably connected to the piston moving the piston in order to take up and/or discharge fluid volumes. The dispenser has a position determining device which has a first position element and a second position element. The first position element is fixed in or on the housing of the dispenser. The second position element is coupled so as to be able to move with the piston actuation member. The position determining device is for continuously sensing the position of the second position element.

A device for a multi-channel pipetting system, comprising a piston holder, a guide rod of the piston holder, which guide rod is mounted slidably in a guide member, a plurality of pistons having a bottom end housed slidably in a suction chamber, and a piston head mounted on the piston holder by way of a mechanical connection. The mechanical connection comprises two contact points which conjointly define a piston-head rotation axis oriented orthogonally with respect to the transverse direction and to the longitudinal central axis of the pipetting system, and the device additionally comprises, associated with the piston, return spring which force the piston head upward against the piston holder, so as to establish the two contact points.

Disclosed herein are cryostorage devices, systems, and methods for cryopreservation or vitrification of biological materials, such as oocytes and embryos. These cryostorage devices can include a capillary straw with the dual functionality for loading/unloading a sample. The devices can also include a self-sealing mechanism and an adapter for coupling with pipettes to enable loading of a predetermined volume of sample. The devices can also include a removable cap to protect the capillary during long-term cryostorage. Methods described herein relate to the manual or automated use of such devices.

The present invention discloses a method for preparing a micro-channel array plate, comprising the steps of : (1) arranging a first optical fiber glass rod and a second optical fiber glass rod closely, melting the two glass rods into a whole at a high temperature to obtain a melted glass rod, drawing the melted glass rod at least one time into a longer and thinner glass rod than the melted glass rod, and cutting the drawn glass rod into small pieces to obtain a micro-channel array plate blank, wherein the corrosion resistance of the first optical fiber glass rod and the second optical fiber glass rod to the same corrosive liquid is different; (2) corroding the micro-channel array plate blank by a corrosive liquid to obtain a micro-channel array plate crude product with through holes; and (3) conducting hydrophobic treatment on the micro-channel array plate crude product to obtain the micro-channel array plate.

A bodily-fluid transfer device includes a housing, a pre-sample reservoir, and an actuator. The housing defines an inner volume between a substantially open proximal end portion and a distal end portion that includes a port couplable to a lumen-defining device. The pre-sample reservoir is fluidically couplable to the port to receive a first volume of bodily fluid. The actuator is at least partially disposed in the inner volume and has a proximal end portion that includes an engagement portion and a distal end portion that includes a sealing member. The engagement portion is configured to allow a user to selectively move the actuator between a first configuration such that bodily fluid can flow from the port to the pre-sample reservoir, and a second configuration such that bodily fluid can flow from the port to a sample reservoir defined at least in part by the sealing member and the housing.

According to an example aspect of the present invention, there is provided a liquid handling device comprising: means for harvesting energy; energy storage arranged for storing the harvested energy in the liquid handling device; and an electronic component connected to the energy storage and configured to use the energy storage as a power source.

A sample processing tubule is provided including, from a proximate to a distal end, an opening through which a sample is introducible, at least three segments, and an reagent introduction port operatively connected to a distal segment of the at least three segments. The reagent introduction port enables the addition of a reagent in the distal segment of the tubule, enabling the user to create a customizable assay tubule.

A pipette with an adjustable dosing volume comprises a housing connected to at least one seat configured to releasably hold a pipette tip. A displacement device is positioned within the housing and configured to aspirate and discharge liquid from the pipette tip. A stroke rod is coupled to the displacement element and configured to be longitudinally displaced relative to the housing to displace the displacement device. A catch sleeve is rotatably mounted within the housing and is connected to the stroke rod. An adjusting sleeve configured to engage a transducer shaft that is rotatably mounted within the housing and comprises a countershaft of a gearbox that is configured to be shifted between different shift stages. Each shift stage comprises different gear ratios between a rotational speed of the adjusting sleeve and a rotational speed of the catch sleeve. The different gear ratios enable coarse volume adjustment and fine volume adjustment.