A method of determining the result of an assay in a microfluidic device includes the steps of: dispensing a sample droplet onto a first portion of an electrode array of the microfluidic device; dispensing a reagent droplet onto a second portion of the electrode array of the microfluidic device; controlling actuation voltages applied to the electrode array to mix the sample droplet and the reagent droplet into a product droplet; sensing a dynamic property of the product droplet; and determining an assay of the sample droplet based on the sensed dynamic property. The dynamic property is a physical property of the product droplet that influences a transport property of the product droplet on the electrode array. Example dynamic properties of the product droplet include the moveable state, split-able state, and viscosity based on droplet properties. The method may be used to perform an amoebocyte lysate (LAL) assay.

Described are sensing devices and methods that preconcentrate an analyte in a sample for sensing by one or more sensors. Embodiments utilize a semipermeable membrane that is impermeable to the analyte or analytes of interest but permeable to other components of the sample fluid. Embodiments utilize a concentrator pump that applies a force to the sample causing at least a portion of the permeable components of the sample fluid to cross the semipermeable membrane into the pump but that leave substantially all, i.e., greater than 99%, of the analyte or analytes of interest in the preconcentrated sample fluid. Embodiments may include gating components at the inlet to the device and, optionally, at the outlet of the device. Embodiments allow for the analyte or analytes of interest to be preconcentrated to a defined amount.

The invention relates to a temperature-control element (4) for a multiwell plate (1), which comprises a plurality of cavities (2) arranged in rows and columns for freezing and/or thawing biological samples. The temperature-control element (4) comprises a base body (6) which is made of a thermally conductive material and is flown through by a temperature-control fluid; and a plurality of protruding temperature-control fingers (5) arranged in rows and columns on an upper side of the base body (6), which are connected in a thermally conductive manner to the base body (6), wherein a grid spacing of the temperature control fingers (5) corresponds to a grid spacing of the cavities (2) of the multiwell plate (1). The invention further relates to a device and method for freezing biological samples, in particular for cryopreservation, and/or thawing biological samples, in particular a cryopreserved sample.

A microfluidic device for detection of an analyte in a fluid is described. The microfluidic device comprises a substrate having a first surface defining entrances to one or more chambers defined in the substrate, surfaces of the chambers defining a second surface of the substrate, the first surface being modified for selective targeting and capture of at least one analyte to operably effect a blocking of the entrance to at least one of the chambers, and wherein a response characteristic of the microfluidic device is operably varied by the blocking of the entrance to the at least one of the chambers, thereby providing an indication of the presence of the analyte within the fluid.

A multiplex slide plate device and an operation method thereof are provided. The multiplex slide plate device includes a slide plate and a sacrificial layer. The slide plate has reaction vessels arranged in an array, an injection hole and an exhaust hole, wherein each of the reaction vessels has an opening portion and a bottom portion. The sacrificial layer has a microfluidic channel, wherein the microfluidic channel has an injection channel, a main channel and a distal channel connected to each other. The sacrificial layer is assembled to the slide plate, wherein the main channel faces the opening portion. A sample solution is injected into the injection channel, such that the sample solution flows from the injection channel through the main channel to the distal channel, wherein the sample solution loads into each of the reaction vessels while flowing through the main channel.

A capillary driven microfluidic device with blood plasma separation means that can be used to separate, meter and transfer a blood sample. The blood separation means can be arranged as a capillary pump by the configuration of a porous membrane and the microfluidic device.

Devices, systems, and methods for detecting molecules of interest within a collected sample are described herein. In certain embodiments, self-contained sample analysis systems are disclosed, which include a reusable reader component, a disposable cartridge component, and a disposable sample collection component. In some embodiments, the reader component communicates with a remote computing device for the digital transmission of test protocols and test results. In various disclosed embodiments, the systems, components, and methods are configured to identify the presence, absence, and/or quantity of particular nucleic acids, proteins, or other analytes of interest, for example, in order to test for the presence of one or more pathogens or contaminants in a sample.

A biochemical detection device with a controlled reaction incubation time includes a substrate; a probe disposed on the substrate; a dissolvable material layer disposed on the substrate, wherein the dissolvable material layer has a first opening defined therein, wherein the probe is received in the first opening; an absorbing material layer disposed on the dissolvable material layer and having a second opening defined therein, wherein the first opening communicates with the second opening and is smaller than the second opening; and a non-dissolvable material layer disposed on an inner face of the second opening of the absorbing material layer and on an exposed top face of the dissolvable material layer.

The present technology provides for an apparatus for detecting polynucleotides in samples, particularly from biological samples. The technology more particularly relates to microfluidic systems that carry out PCR on nucleotides of interest within microfluidic channels, and detect those nucleotides. The apparatus includes a microfluidic cartridge that is configured to accept a plurality of samples, and which can carry out PCR on each sample individually, or a group of, or all of the plurality of samples simultaneously.

Disclosed are methods and devices for interfacing to or interacting with the flow of liquid passing into or through lateral-flow assays and related paper- or membrane-based in-vitro diagnostic testing platforms. This is done for the purpose of improving their performance, sensitivity, accuracy, repeatability, degree of multiplexing, and/or level of quantitation, and/or reducing their inherent limitations while maintaining, in large part, their simplicity, cost effectiveness, and ease of use. New methods are disclosed for pre-sample purification, aliquoting, sequential liquid delivery, flow control and other functions that are largely automatic and require no action on the part of the user.