A microfluidic valve, includes arranging a substrate of a mechanically inert material to one or more physicochemical properties over time, configuring a structural portion of the valve; additive layer manufacturing to print, a succession of one or more filaments of a material with mechanical response to one or more of said physicochemical properties over time, preferably LCP, configuring a functional portion of the valve; and arranging the succession of filaments on the substrate, configuring a fluid flow rate through the valve using the application of an anti-adhesion treatment on one or more interfaces of said filaments and the substrate.

In an embodiment, the present disclosure pertains to a microfluidic device composed of a substrate having an inlet region and a first storage region, a fluid transporting channel in fluid communication with the inlet region, an expandable component in fluid communication with the fluid transporting channel and coupled to a movable arm, and a fluid transporting region coupled to the movable arm and operable to be moved in a horizontal direction to the fluid transporting channel to thereby form fluidic contact between the inlet region and the first storage region upon expansion of the expandable component. In an additional embodiment, the present disclosure pertains to a method of fluid flow utilizing a microfluidic device of the present disclosure.

Sample collection tubes and methods of producing the same are provided. Contemplated collection tubes comprise a tube having a separator substance disposed therein. In some aspects, the separator substance preferably maintains a predetermined flowability during irradiation or heat sterilization, and can subsequently polymerize upon exposure to a UV light or other suitable source. In other aspects, the separator substance preferably includes a soft gel component (thixotropic gel), and a photocurable sealant component that is formulated to polymerize and form a solid barrier between fractions of a liquid.

The present invention relates to a low-cost, thermally reversible valve for paper-fluidic diagnostic devices. In particular, this invention demonstrates a tunable valve mechanism fabricated by wax-ink printing and localized heating via thin-film resistors to sequentially release liquids through a cellulose or nitrocellulose membrane. The wax-ink valve can obstruct fluid flow for a sustained time and are thermally actuated to release a controlled amount of liquid past the valve. This integrated paper-fluidic diagnostic assay device requires minimal user involvement, can be easily manufactured and tuned to meet various fluid delivery timing and incubation needs.

The present disclosure relates to a microfluidic immunoassay chip and a microfluidic line immunoassay method. The microfluidic immunoassay chip includes a loading cell, a reaction and detection cell, a washing cell, an enzyme storing cell, a substrate cell, and a termination cell, and a waste liquid cell. A detection membrane strip is disposed in the reaction and detection cell and coated with a capture antigen or a capture antibody.

This system takes in raw cellular material collected using a provided swab, blood collection device, urine collection device, or other sample collection device and transforms that biological material into a digital result, identifying the presence, absence and/or quantity of nucleic acids, proteins, and/or other molecules of interest.

A nucleic acid detection system according to an embodiment is a nucleic acid detection system to detect a target nucleic acid in a sample and includes a thermal inactivation chamber, an amplification chamber, and a detection chamber, all of which constitute a liquid flow path. In this system, liquid flows through the thermal inactivation chamber, the amplification chamber, and the detection chamber sequentially. The thermal inactivation chamber includes a reagent to thermally inactivate and decompose the sample. The amplification chamber includes a reagent to amplify the target nucleic acid. The detection chamber includes a test strip to conduct a Cas enzyme reaction with the target nucleic acid and a lateral flow detection.

An nucleic acid integrated detection reagent tube is provided, it includes a main tube and one or more branch tubes, wherein a lysing zone, a cleaning zone and a plurality of separation plugs comprising at least a least a separation plug and a second separation plug which are sequentially disposed, the first separation plug is used for separating the lysing zone and the cleaning zone, a reaction zone is provided in the branch tubes and the second separation plug is positioned at a connection between the branch tubes and the main tube or inside the branch tubes; hydrophobic layers in a liquid or a solid phase disposed at each of the plurality of separation plugs; and a magnetic bead channel for magnetically carrying the nucleic acid to sequentially pass through each hydrophobic layer penetrating to the branch tubes defined in an inner wall of the detection reagent tube.

A method for inserting and retaining a reagent within a disposable cartridge of a diagnostic assay system. The method includes the steps of: (i) drying a reagent in combination with a carrier, and (ii) inserting the carrier, with the dried reagent, into an open end of one of the assay chambers, wherein the carrier facilitates insertion of the pellet into a chamber without contact by an operator.

A microfluidic chip can include a microfluidic network that comprises a port, one or more test volumes, and one or more channels through which fluid must flow from the port to the test volume(s). A crosslinkable material can also be disposed within the microfluidic network such that the crosslinkable material is flowable through the channel(s). The crosslinkable material of the microfluidic chip may be exposed to light and/or heat to crosslink the material within and thereby occlude the channel(s). A method of loading the microfluidic chip can include disposing a liquid within a port of a microfluidic network that includes one or more test volumes and one or more channels; flowing each of one or more portions of the liquid from the port, through at least one of the channel(s), and into a respective one of the test volume(s); and directing a crosslinkable material into at least one of the channel(s) and cross-linking the crosslinkable material such that none of the test volume(s) are in fluid communication with the port when the portion(s) of the liquid are in the test volume(s).