Provided herein are epidermal microfluidic systems and methods that allow for the collection of biofluids in a wet or aquatic environment, for example, from the surface of the skin. The described systems allow for the efficient collection of biofluids, without loss of the biofluid to the surrounding environment or introduction of extraneous liquids from the environment. The described microfluidic systems are versatile and can provide information regarding a number of biofluid properties both electronically and colorimetrically/visually.

Systems and methods that enable automated processing of specimens carried on microscope slides are described herein. Aspects of the technology are directed, for example, to automated specimen processing systems configured to use microfluidic slide processing modules to robotically process tissue specimens. The slide processing modules can include reagents and a flow cell with a reaction chamber for holding the tissue specimens and reagent.

An incubation cassette for reducing liquid evaporation from wells of a microplate that has a frame for receiving a microplate having wells. The frame has a central first opening that is surrounded by an inner wall and the dimensions are designed for the placement of the microplate therein, and an outer wall extends substantially parallel to the inner wall and adjoins the inner wall via an intermediate bottom such that a liquid reservoir for holding a liquid is formed by the two walls and the intermediate bottom, the liquid reservoir surrounding the first central opening. At least a portion of the incubation cassette that forms the liquid reservoir is provided at least in part with at least one transparent portion (TA).

A test element for an assay includes: a cartridge having a housing which includes a priming pad capable of containing a liquid fluid, a wash port having an opening in the housing, and an opening for directly or indirectly applying a sample; and an assay device positioned within the cartridge in fluid communication with the wash port containing an analytical reagent.

A moisture-tight, re-sealable container is disclosed having a lid and body. The lid and body have a non-round seal that is substantially moisture tight when the lid is seated on the body, admitting less than 1000 micrograms per day of water to a package. A reinforcement stiffens or reinforces at least a portion of the seal against inward deflection along an axis defined by the minor diameter when the lid is seated on the body. Optionally the reinforcement is at least one spline subdividing the reservoir. A method of making dispensers for objects of varying length to customize particular dispensers to dispense such objects of a particular length is also disclosed.

A method for reconstituting a lyophilized reagent contained within a reagent well comprises the steps of drawing a diluent into a pipette tip attached to an automated pipettor and dispensing the diluent into the reagent well containing the lyophilized reagent. The reagent well has an internal side wall, a bottom wall, and an open upper end and includes one or more retention features disposed about the periphery of the internal side wall and defining a central opening into the well that permits passage of the pipette tip into the reagent well. The one or more retention features are integrally formed with the internal side wall, and each of the one or more retention features extends over a portion of the lyophilized reagent, thereby retaining the lyophilized reagent within the reagent well.

A system and method for target material capture, the method comprising: receiving a set of target cells into an array of wells defined at a surface plane of a substrate; receiving a set of particles into the array of wells, thereby co-capturing the set of target cells and the set of particles; achieving a desired state for the array of wells upon receiving a washing fluid into a cavity in communication with the array of wells; receiving a lysis buffer into the cavity; receiving a partitioning fluid into the cavity, thereby displacing the lysis buffer from the cavity and partitioning each of the array of wells from adjacent wells, at the surface plane; and retaining intercellular material of the set of target cells, individually with the set of particles within the array of wells.

The present disclosure describes an apparatus and method of improving temperature uniformity and suppressing well plate warping. In an embodiment, the apparatus includes a barrier configured to be positioned above at least one well configured to contain a liquid sample, where a vessel includes the at least one well, where the vessel is transparent and is configured to be placed within a measurement chamber, where a light measurement apparatus includes the measurement chamber, where the light measurement apparatus is configured to measure light scattered from the liquid sample, where the barrier is configured to seal the at least one well from the measurement chamber, and a weighted lid configured to press a bottom surface of the vessel against a well plate retainer of the measurement chamber, thereby spreading heat among the at least one well and preventing the vessel from warping.

A micro-vial for handling micro-volume of sample fluids. The interior wall defined in the vial has a cylindrical sample section, a wider cylindrical alignment section, a tapered or conical guide section, and a relatively large cylindrical body section, arranged in sequence in that order along the center axis of the vial. The sample section holds a small volume of a sample fluid and receives the tip end of a capillary tube. The alignment section has a larger diameter than the sample section, receiving a cylindrical support that coaxially supports the relatively fragile capillary tube. The tip of the capillary tube dips into the micro-volume of sample fluid held in the sample section. The conical section guides the capillary tube and the support tube into the alignment section and the tip of the capillary tube into the sample section.

A high-density micro-chamber array has a translucent flat substrate, a hydrophobic layer in which a plurality of micro-chambers are provided, and a lipid bilayer membrane formed in each of the openings of the micro-chambers, wherein an electrode is provided in each of the micro-chambers, and when the side of the substrate on which the hydrophobic layer is provided is directed upward, the micro-chamber array is configured such that with at least one of the following A) and B) being met, light entering the substrate from below is transmitted through the substrate and penetrates into the micro-chambers' interiors, and light entering the substrate from the micro-chambers' interiors is transmitted through the substrate and escapes toward below the substrate. A) The electrode is provided on an inner side surface of each of the micro-chambers. B) The electrode is transparent and provided on a bottom surface of each of the micro-chambers.