Disclosed here are kits comprising pre-packed stabilizing solutions for stabilizing combinations of biomarkers at room temperature. Such kits can be better adapted for sample collection at a subject's dwelling, thus easing the burdensome requirement of sample collection.

A device and a method of using the device for determining hematocrit in a whole blood sample. The device includes a first portion having an introducer, at least one fluid channel, a fluid actuator, and an analysis sensor and conductivity sensor disposed within the fluid channel. The second portion includes at least one well containing at least one material. The first portion and second portion are movable with respect to each other. The introducer is configured to transfer at least a portion of the material from the well in portion two into the fluid channel of portion one. The method includes measuring the resistance over substantially the entire portion of a whole blood sample and calculating an average hematocrit level of the whole blood sample based on the measured resistance.

According to an example aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method, comprising: providing a wearable electronic device that is configured to be worn by a user of a laboratory device; by means of the wearable device, retrieving user data that is specific to said user; and on the basis of the retrieved user data, providing a functionality for control of the laboratory device.

Focused acoustic radiation, referred to as tonebursts, are applied to a volume of liquid to generate a set of droplets. In one embodiment, a first toneburst is applied to temporarily raise a mound or protuberance on a free surface of the fluid. After the mound has reached a certain state, at least two additional toneburst can be applied to the protuberance to sequentially eject multiple bursts of multiple droplets. In one embodiment, the state of the mound can be maintained by a sustained acoustic signal, during which time multiple additional tonebursts can be applied to sequentially eject multiple bursts of multiple droplets from the mound.

Disclosed are devices and methods useful for confined-channel digital microfluidics that combine high-throughput droplet generators with digital microfluidic for droplet manipulation. The present disclosure also provides an off-chip sensing system for droplet tracking.

The invention is directed to methods and devices for efficient separation of plasma irons whole blood which are suitable for point of care use in resource poor environments, in some embodiments, elements of such devices comprise (a) a sample collection receptacle (SCR) with at least one port, the sample collection receptacle capable of holding a predetermined volume of a sample of undiluted whole blood drawn through a port; (b) a filter chamber having an inlet and an outlet, and containing at least one filter capable of separating plasma from blood cells as sample passes from an inlet side to an outlet side of the at least one filter whenever the filter chamber is placed in Quid communication with a port of the sample collection receptacle; and (c) a manually driven pump operationally associated with the SCR and filter chamber for (i) drawing a predetermined volume of sample into ore SCR by a first user action and (ii) driving the predetermined volume at a substantially constant linear flow under a pressure not exceeding 2 psi from the SCR through the filter chamber and the outlet of the filter chamber by a second user action.

Provided herein is technology relating to processing biological samples and particularly, but not exclusively, to systems and apparatuses for dissociating biological tissues into viable cells.

A liquid handling device having an axis of rotation about which the device can be rotated to drive liquid flow. The device includes a vented upstream chamber having an outlet port and an unvented chamber including an inlet port to receive liquid from the outlet port of the upstream chamber and an outlet port radially outward the inlet port. The device further includes a vented downstream chamber having an inlet port to receive liquid from the outlet port of the unvented chamber. A downstream conduit connects the outlet port of the unvented chamber to the inlet port of the downstream chamber and includes a bend radially inward of the outlet port of the unvented chamber. An upstream conduit connects the outlet port of the upstream chamber to the inlet port of the unvented chamber.

The invention describes a method for the synthesis of compounds comprising the steps of: (a) compartmentalising two or more sets of primary compounds into microcapsules; such that a proportion of the microcapsules contains two or more compounds; and (b) forming secondary compounds in the microcapsules by chemical reactions between primary compounds from different sets; wherein one or both of steps (a) and (b) is performed under microfluidic control; preferably electronic microfluidic control, The invention further allows for the identification of compounds which bind to a target component of a biochemical system or modulate the activity of the target, and which is co-compartmentalised into the microcapsules.

Disclosed in one aspect is a method for performing a complete blood count (CBC) on a sample of whole blood by metering a predetermined amount of the whole blood and mixing it with a predetermined amount of diluent and stain and transferring a portion thereof to an imaging chamber of fixed dimensions and utilizing an automated microscope with digital camera and cell counting and recognition software to count every white blood cell and red blood corpuscle and platelet in the sample diluent/stain mixture to determine the number of red cells, white cells, and platelets per unit volume, and analyzing the white cells with cell recognition software to classify them.