The present disclosure relates to a microfluidic substrate, a microfluidic device and a driving method thereof. The microfluidic substrate includes a first area, the first area includes a first module for generating droplets, the first module includes a first electrode pair and a second electrode pair, and the first electrode pair and the second electrode pair are arranged in a crisscross pattern. The first electrode pair includes a first electrode and a second electrode, and the second electrode pair includes a third electrode and a fourth electrode.

The present invention relates to the field of biological diagnosis in oncology. It relates to a method and apparatus for detecting and/or characterizing tumor cells by detecting one or more elements of the tumor cell secretome, in particular one or more peptides or proteins, and, in particular, one or more tumor markers. The invention also relates to detecting and/or characterizing droplets of tumor cells and their method of preparation.

A microfluidic system and related methods of operating an electrowetting on dielectric (EWOD) device operate to concentrate particles within a liquid droplet dispensed onto an element array of the EWOD device. The method includes the steps of providing a non-polar liquid onto the element array of the EWOD device; providing a polar liquid droplet onto the element array of the EWOD device within the non-polar liquid, wherein the polar liquid droplet includes particles; and applying an actuation cycle comprising a plurality of actuation patterns, wherein at least one of the actuation patterns includes actuating one or more array element electrodes within a perimeter of the polar liquid droplet, and the particles migrate within the polar liquid droplet to become concentrated within a portion of the liquid droplet at one or more array element electrodes corresponding to one of the plurality of actuation patterns.

The present invention provides compositions, systems, kits, and methods for analyzing the interaction of T-cells and neoantigen presenting cells (and other cells) via discrete entity (e.g., droplet) microfluids. In certain embodiments, a microfluidic device is used to merge a discrete entity containing a T-cell, and a discrete entity containing a neoantigen presenting cell, at a merger region via a trapping element in order to generate a combined discrete entity. In particular embodiments, at least one thousand of such combined discrete entities are formed in about one second. In some embodiments, whether the receptor on the T-cell sufficiently binds the neoantigen to activate the T-Cell is detected (e.g., via detection of cytokine or granzyme B release). In certain embodiments, provided herein are methods for identifying polyfunctional T-cells or NK-cells, as well as methods of screening for such cells that would be cytotoxic if injected into a subject.

A microfluidic device comprises upper and lower spaced apart substrates defining a fluid chamber therebetween; an aperture for introducing fluid into the fluid chamber; a plurality of independently addressable array elements, each array element defining a respective region of the fluid chamber; and control means for addressing the array elements. The control means are configured to: determine that a working fluid has been introduced into a first region of the fluid chamber; and provide an output to a user to indicate that the working fluid is present in the first region. Once the working fluid is in the first region, the fluid applicator used to dispense the fluid can be removed without any risk of accidentally withdrawing dispensed working fluid from the microfluidic device. In the case of manual loading of the working fluid the output may inform a user that it is safe to remove the applicator, or in the case of automatic or robotic loading the output signal may be provided to the system controlling the automatic or robotic loading of fluid so that the system can remove the fluid applicator.

The present invention discloses a microstructured discrimination device for separating hydrophobic-hydrophilic fluidic composites comprising particulate and/or fluids in a fluid flow. The discrimination is the result of surface energy gradients obtained by physically varying a textured surface and/or by varying surface chemical properties, both of which are spatially graded. Such surfaces discriminate and spatially separate particulate and/or fluids without external energy input. The device of the present invention comprises a platform having bifurcating microchannels arranged radially. The lumenal surfaces of the microchannels may have a surface energy gradient created by varying the periodicity of hierarchically arranged microstructures along a dimension. The surface energy gradient is varied in two regions. In one pre-bifurcation region the surface energy gradient generates a fluid flow. In the other post-bifurcation region, there is a difference in surface energy proximal to the bifurcation such that different flow fractions are divided into separate channels in response to different surface energy gradients in each of the post-bifurcation channels. Accordingly, fluids of different hydrophobicity and/or particulate of different hydrophobicity are driven into separate channels by a global minimization of the fluid system energy.

A passive, hydrodynamic technique implemented using a microfluidic device to perform co-encapsulation of samples in droplets and sorting of said droplets is described herein. The hydrodynamic technique utilizes laminar flows and high shear liquid-liquid interfaces at a microfluidic junction to encapsulate samples in the droplets. A sorting mechanism is implemented to separate sample droplets from empty droplets. This technique can achieve a one-one-one encapsulation efficiency of about 80% and can significantly improve the droplet sequencing and related applications in single cell genomics and proteomics.

An electronically-controlled digital ferrofluidic device is disclosed which employs a network of individually addressable coils in conjunction with one or more movable permanent magnets, where each moveable permanent magnet delivers the designated fluid manipulation-based tasks. The underlying mechanism facilitating fluidic operations is realized by addressable electromagnetic actuation of miniaturized mobile magnets that exert localized magnetic body forces on droplets filled with magnetic nanoparticles. The reconfigurable, contactless, and non-interfering magnetic-field operation properties of the underlying actuation mechanism allow for the integration of passive and active components to implement advanced and diverse operations with high efficiency (e.g., droplet sorting, dispensing, generation, merging, mixing, filtering, and analysis).

A solid reagent containment unit is formed by a support; a frame body fixed to the support and delimiting internally, together with the support, an analysis volume; a reagent-adhesion structure within the analysis volume; and at least one reagent cavity, which extends within the reagent-adhesion structure. The reagent-adhesion structure is of an adhesion material embossable at temperatures lower by 6-8° C. than its own melting point and has a melting point such as not to interfere with the analysis. The reagent cavity forms a retention wall, laterally surrounding the reagent cavity, and houses dried reagents. The adhesion material is chosen among wax, such as paraffin, a polymer, such as polycaprolactone, a solid fat, such as cocoa butter, and a gel, such as hydrogel or organogel.

A method for extracting nucleic acids includes mixing a biological sample with a solid-phase substrate to produce a sample fluid. The nucleic acids in the sample fluid bind to the solid-phase substrate. The method also includes flowing the sample fluid in a fluid conduit to a trapping site. The trapping site may include a chamber. The method may further include applying a magnetic field to trap the solid-phase substrate of the sample fluid flowing through the fluid conduit at the trapping site. The method further includes flowing a wash buffer through the fluid conduit to remove impurities from the solid-phase substrate. The method further includes flowing an immiscible fluid through the fluid conduit to remove residual sample fluid and/or wash buffer. The method further includes flowing an elution buffer through the fluid conduit to elute nucleic acids from the solid-phase substrate.