Disclosed herein are microfluidic devices and methods to deliver concentration gradients to biological material such as oocytes and embryos for the purpose of cryopreparation, cryopreservation, or thawing. Cryopreservation methods, such as vitrification, involve the use of cryoprotectants to reduce formation of damaging ice crystals in cells during freezing. Microfluidic devices and methods described herein improve cell viability and efficiency during handling and cryopreservation of biological materials.

Disclosed are a carrier, a vacuumizing device, and a tissue cryopreservation system. The carrier is provided with at least one freezing chamber for loading a tissue, and a contact surface of the freezing chamber that comes into contact with the tissue is provided with a plurality of flow guide holes. The carrier may cooperate with the vacuumizing device so as to suck away excess liquid, such as a protective agent, on a surface of the tissue by vacuum, and discharge the liquid from the freezing chamber through the flow guide holes, thereby reducing the toxicity damage that may be caused by prolonged contact between the tissue and a high-concentration protective agent.

An isolator system including: a box-shaped body case having, in an interior thereof, a work space for operation in a sterile environment and also having, in a front surface thereof, an insertion portion into which a worker's arm is inserted; and an air-conditioning portion configured to supply gas in the work space of the body case or to discharge gas in the work space, a bottom of the work space being configured with a work plate, a discharge path configured to discharge gas in the work space being formed below the work plate, the work plate being configured with first and second work plates obtained by dividing the work plate into right and left parts, a receiving portion being located below the first work plate, the receiving portion being arranged extending towards the second work plate on a side edge of the first work plate, the side edge of the first work plate being in contact with the second work plate, a side edge of the second work plate for being in contact with the first work plate being placed detachably on the receiving portion.

A fluid propelling apparatus, including a plastic compound, a MEMS at least partially surrounded by the compound, and a heat sink next to the MEMS, to transfer heat away from the MEMS, wherein the heat sink is at least partly surrounded by the compound.

Enhanced composite liquid cell (CLC) devices and methods of using the same are provided. The devices find use in, among other applications, CLC mediated nucleic acid library generation protocols, e.g., for use in next generation sequencing applications.

The present invention relates to a device for thermal cycling of biological samples, a heat sink used in such a device and a method. The heat sink comprises a base plate designed to fit in a good thermal contact against a generally planar thermoelectric element included in the device, and a plurality of heat transfer elements projecting away from the base plate. According to the invention, the heat transfer elements of the heat sink and arranged in a non-parallel configuration with respect to each other for keeping the temperature of the base plate of the heat sink spatially uniform during thermal cycling.

A method for conditioning air in a test space of a test chamber which receives test material. A temperature in a range of −20° C. to +180° C. is established within the test space with a cooling device. The cooling device includes a cooling circuit with a refrigerant, a heat exchanger, a compressor, a condenser and an expansion element. An internal heat exchanger of the cooling circuit is connected to a high-pressure side of the cooling circuit upstream of the expansion element and downstream of the condenser and to a low-pressure side of the cooling circuit upstream of the compressor and downstream of the heat exchanger and is used to cool the refrigerant of the high-pressure side. A zeotropic refrigerant is used and the internal heat exchanger is used to cool the refrigerant of the high-pressure side to lower an evaporation temperature at the expansion element.

The present disclosure is drawn to temperature-cycling microfluidic devices. In one example, a temperature-cycling microfluidic device can include a driver chip having a top surface and a heat exchange substrate having a top surface coplanar with the top surface of the driver chip. A fluid chamber can be located on the top surface of the driver chip. A first and second microfluidic loop can have fluid driving ends and fluid outlet ends connected to the fluid chamber and can include portions thereof located on the top surface of the heat exchange substrate. A first and second fluid actuator can be on the driver chip. The first and second fluid actuators can be associated with the fluid driving ends of the first and second microfluidic loops, respectively, to circulate fluid through the first and second microfluidic loops.

Microfluidic devices and methods for investigating crystallization and/or for controlling a reaction or a phase transition are disclosed. In one embodiment, the microfluidic device includes a reservoir layer; a membrane disposed on the reservoir layer; a wetting control layer disposed on the membrane; and a storage layer disposed on the wetting control layer, wherein the wetting control layer and the storage layer define a microfluidic channel comprising an upstream portion, a downstream portion, a first fluid path in communication with the upstream and the downstream portions, and a storage well positioned within the first fluid path, wherein the wetting control layer includes a fluid passageway in communication with the storage well and the membrane, and wherein the wetting control layer wets a first fluid introduced into the microfluidic channel, the first fluid comprising a hydrophilic, lipophilic, fluorophilic or gas phase as the continuous phase in the microfluidic channel.

The technology described herein is directed to methods of cryopreservation, e.g., cryopreservation in a microfluidics format and methods of utilizing cells preserved by such methods.