A cover member for use in the treatment of a sample on a substrate is disclosed. The cover member has fluid flow features and is adapted for use in an instrument, such as a laboratory instrument. The cover member comprises at least one orientation feature detectable by the instrument for ascertaining an orientation of the cover member. An automated method for detecting orientation of a cover member in a sample treatment assembly is also disclosed, in which a processor compares data corresponding to one or more images collected from the sample treatment assembly, with data representing a reference image to determine if a cover member is in the sample treatment assembly.

Methods and systems and related compositions for separating through a solid matrix a mixture comprising a nucleic acid together with a target compound having a water solubility equal to or greater than 0.01 mg per 100 mL, which can be used for managing fluid flow, biochemical reactions and purification of the nucleic acid or other target analytes.

Disclosed is a microfluidic chip, including a chip upper cover, a chip lower layer, a membrane, a sealing gasket and a sealing ring. The microfluidic chip is provided with a sample storage zone, a droplet formation zone, a droplet storage zone, a droplet detection zone and a waste liquid storage zone. The sample storage zone, the droplet formation zone, the droplet storage zone, the droplet detection zone and the waste liquid storage zone communicate by means of a micropore or a micro-channel. The droplet formation zone is used to transform the sample phase into tens of thousands to millions of droplets, the droplets undergo the PCR reaction in the droplet storage zone, the droplet detection zone is used to perform optical detection on the droplets after PCR reaction, and the waste liquid storage zone is used to collect and store the detected droplets and continuous phase.

A flow path device comprises a flow path 50 that includes a plurality of inlet portion side first flow paths 61 connected to an inlet portion 30; a plurality of inlet portion side second flow paths 62 connected to the plurality of respective inlet portion side first flow paths 61; and a plurality of reaction chamber portions 63 connected to the plurality of respective inlet portion side second flow paths 62, wherein the plurality of inlet portion side first flow paths 61 are configured such that when a positive pressure is applied to a liquid in the plurality of inlet portion side first flow paths 61, the amounts of the liquid flowing out from the plurality of inlet portion side first flow paths 61 to the respective reaction chamber portions 63 are substantially the same, wherein plurality of inlet portion side second flow paths 62 are configured such that when the magnitude of the positive pressure applied to the liquid in the plurality of inlet portion side first flow paths 61 is less than a threshold value, the outflow of the liquid from the inlet portion side first flow paths 61 to the reaction chamber portions 63 is restricted, and when the magnitude of the positive pressure is the threshold value or greater, the outflow of the liquid is allowed.

A mesoscale fluidic system comprises a substrate having a sample chamber and an analysis chamber. The sample chamber comprises a cell permeable filter defining a sample application compartment and a conditioning medium compartment. The sample chamber has a sample inlet port in the sample application compartment. The analysis chamber has an entry port and an exit port. The conditioning medium compartment is in fluid communication with the entry port of the analysis chamber via a channel. The sample application compartment is below the cell permeable filter and the conditioning medium compartment is above the cell permeable filter. The mesoscale fluidic system is suited for analysing cellular motility in a sample. Also disclosed is a method of estimating the quantity of motile cells in a sample and a method of extracting motile cells from non-motile cells.

The invention is a slide cleaner apparatus. The apparatus includes a cleaning chamber configured to receive a cell counting slide, at least one fluid inlet arranged to align with an inlet on a cell counting slide when located in the chamber, and configured to feed cleaning fluid into the cleaning chamber and slide, and at least one fluid outlet configured to remove cleaning fluid from the cleaning chamber and slide. The invention also includes methods of cleaning a cell counting slide.

A sample holder for holding a liquid sample for laboratory processing, such as PCR thermal cycling. The sample holder includes at least one vessel having a bottom and sidewall defining an interior volume and a rim defining an opening to the interior volume. The vessel has a first portion that defines at least a part of the bottom and sidewall of the vessel and is made of a first material, and a second portion that defines the rim of the vessel and is made of a second material different from the first material.

A method includes coupling a molecular diagnostic test device to a power source. A biological sample is conveyed into a sample preparation module. The device is then actuated by only a single action to cause the device to perform the following functions without further user action. First, the device heats the sample via a heater of the sample preparation module to lyse a portion of the sample. Second, the device conveys the lysed sample to an amplification module and heats the sample within a reaction volume of the amplification module to amplify a nucleic acid thereby producing an output solution containing a target amplicon. The device then reacts, within a detection module, each of (i) the output solution and (ii) a reagent formulated to produce a signal that indicates a presence of the target amplicon within the output solution. A result associated with the signal is then read.

Methods and systems and related compositions for separating through a solid matrix a mixture comprising a nucleic acid together with a target compound having a water solubility equal to or greater than 0.01 mg per 100 mL, which can be used for managing fluid flow, biochemical reactions and purification of the nucleic acid or other target analytes.

A dispensing tip holder is used when a dispensing tip is attached to a tip of a pipette, and includes a peripheral wall having a shape surrounding an outer peripheral surface of the dispensing tip, and an insertion portion having an insertion opening into which the dispensing tip is to be inserted. The peripheral wall has a first end into which the dispensing tip is to be inserted, and has a second end provided at a position opposite to the first end. The insertion portion is formed in the peripheral wall such that an outer peripheral surface of the dispensing tip abuts against an edge of the insertion opening, and is formed in the peripheral wall such that a tip of the dispensing tip does not project from the second end of the peripheral wall, when the dispensing tip is inserted into the insertion opening from the first end.