A fluid chip suitable for a fluid device is disclosed in which an upper surface of a flow passage has another member bonded thereto. The disclosed fluid chip, in which a flow passage is formed, comprises a base material having a top surface forming at least a portion of a bottom surface of a flow passage, and a bonding member which is formed from an elastomer resin and an upper end surface of which is provided in a position higher than the top surface of the base material. The base material has a support post portion which projects from the top surface and defines the height of a side surface of the flow passage, and the support post portion of the base material is embedded in the bonding member.

A sample processing assembly for treatment of a sample on a substrate includes a mounting surface for the substrate and a closure body configured to releasably retain a cover member. The closure body is movable between an open position and a substantially closed position. When a substrate is placed in the assembly and the closure body is in the substantially closed position while retaining a cover member, a reaction chamber is formed for processing a sample. A cover member for use with the sample processing assembly is also provided.

A reagent vessel, an apparatus and a method for manufacturing a lower part of a reagent vessel for an analytical instrument are disclosed. The reagent vessel is configured to store a liquid reagent. The reagent vessel comprises a cover and a lower part. The lower part comprises a bottom wall, a front wall, a rear wall, two opposing side walls and at least one connection wall. The cover, bottom wall, front wall, rear wall and two opposing side walls define at least one internal volume for storing at least one liquid reagent. The two opposing side walls are at least partially connected to one another by the at least one connection wall located within the at least one internal volume. The connection wall is spaced apart from the bottom wall. The connection wall and at least the two opposing side walls can be injection-molded and are monolithically formed.

A digital dispense system and methods for preparing samples for analysis. The digital dispense system includes a fluid droplet ejection system housed in a housing unit. The fluid droplet ejection system contains a fluid droplet ejection head and fluid cartridge containing one or more fluids to be dispensed. A cartridge translation mechanism is provided for moving the fluid droplet ejection head and fluid cartridge back and forth over a sample holder in an x direction. A sample tray translation mechanism moves a sample tray back and forth beneath the fluid droplet ejection head and fluid cartridge in a y direction orthogonal to the x direction.

There is provided a histology system that comprises a microtome configured to expose a face of a tissue block comprising a tissue sample embedded in an embedding material and remove one or more tissue sections from the sample, a hydration system configured to hydrate the tissue block by depositing a hydrating liquid on the face of the tissue block, and a transfer system configured to transfer the one or more tissue sections from the microtome to one or more slides. In some embodiments, the hydration system is configured to produce droplet condensation of the hydrating liquid and deposit the condensation on the face of the tissue block.

An analysis apparatus including a stage, an analysis device placed on the stage and including receiving sections which accommodate a sample and a reagent for biochemical reaction, and are communicated with one another through a flow path having an inlet and an outlet, a liquid introduction section which is connected to the inlet and supplies into the flow path the sample, the reagent, and an sealing liquid for sealing each of the receiving sections, and a waste liquid storage section which is connected to the outlet and stores as waste liquid an excess of the sample and the reagent and a part of the sealing liquid supplied to the flow path, an optical system which includes an objective lens, emits excitation light to the receiving sections and allows observation of fluorescence generated in the receiving sections by the excitation light, and a control unit that controls such that the sealing liquid and the excess of the sample and the reagent form an interface in the waste liquid storage section, and that the interface is formed at a distance not less than a fluorescence-obtainable distance from a bottom of the receiving sections.

Diagnostic detection chip device designs that reduce cost of fabrication and assembly are described herein. Such chip device designs include features that facilitate use of the chip within a chip carrier device with integrated fluid flow control features and compatibility with conventional sample cartridges and sample processing systems. Associated methods of manufacture and assembly of the chip devices are also provided herein.

The present disclosure provides a microfluidic substrate, a microfluidic chip and a manufacturing method thereof. The microfluidic substrate includes: a first substrate; a conductive layer on the first substrate; and a defining layer on a side of the conductive layer facing away from the first substrate, the defining layer defining a concave portion; wherein the conductive layer comprises a plurality of conductive patterns corresponding to the concave portion, the plurality of conductive patterns are arranged along a first direction, each conductive pattern extends along a second direction and comprises a first end and a second end, the first direction is perpendicular to the second direction, and each conductive pattern has a maximum local resistance value at the first end and the second end of the conductive pattern.

A system and method for processing and detecting nucleic acids from a set of biological samples, comprising: a capture plate and a capture plate module configured to facilitate binding of nucleic acids within the set of biological samples to magnetic beads; a molecular diagnostic module configured to receive nucleic acids bound to magnetic beads, isolate nucleic acids, and analyze nucleic acids, comprising a cartridge receiving module, a heating/cooling subsystem and a magnet configured to facilitate isolation of nucleic acids, a valve actuation subsystem configured to control fluid flow through a microfluidic cartridge for processing nucleic acids, and an optical subsystem for analysis of nucleic acids; a fluid handling system configured to deliver samples and reagents to components of the system to facilitate molecular diagnostic protocols; and an assay strip configured to combine nucleic acid samples with molecular diagnostic reagents for analysis of nucleic acids.

The present disclosure provides a method of producing uniformly sized organoids/multicellular spheroids using a microfluidic device having an array of microwells. The method involves several successive steps. First, a microfluidic device containing parallel rows of microwells that are connected with a supplying channel is filled with a wetting agent. The wetting agent is a liquid that is immiscible in water. For example, the wetting agent may be an organic liquid such as oil. In the next step, the agent in the supplying channel and the microwells is replaced with a suspension of cells in an aqueous solution that contains a precursor for a hydrogel. Next, the aqueous phase in the supplying channel is replaced with the agent, which leads to the formation of an array of droplets of cell suspension in the hydrogel precursor solution, which were compartmentalized in the wells. The droplets are then transformed into cell-laden hydrogels. Subsequently, the agent in the supplying channel is replaced with the cell culture medium continuously flowing through the microfluidic device and the cells within the hydrogels are transformed into multicellular spheroids.