A heat sealing product suitable for sealing one or more individual containers, said heat sealing product comprising: (i) a plurality of individual heat seals set out in a configuration substantially corresponding to the shape and configuration of the container(s) to be sealed, the size and shape of the individual heat seals corresponding substantially to the size and shape of the tops of the individual container(s) to be sealed; (ii) a peelable support film layer coated on one side with a low tack adhesive, the low tack adhesive serving to hold the individual heat seals in place on the support film layer in the desired configuration prior to the sealing process; (iii) alignment points in the sealing product adapted to enable the heat sealing product and therefore the individual heat seals of the heat sealing product to be aligned substantially exactly with respect to the individual containers to be sealed.

A thin-walled microplate suitable for use in the Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) technique comprising a plurality of thin-walled tubes or wells arranged in a fixed array, each well having an upper portion with an open top and a lower, frustoconical portion having a substantially flat bottom.

A selective liquid sliding surface includes: a base layer; multiple pillars protruding from the base layer; and a head protruding from an upper surface of each of the multiple pillars and having a larger cross-sectional diameter than the pillar, wherein the head includes a first head protruding from the pillar and a second head protruding from a periphery of the first head, and the base layer, the pillar, and the head are formed of the same material.

A device for analysis of cells comprises: an active sensor area (104) presenting a surface for cell growth; a microelectrode array (102) comprising a plurality of pixels (110) in the active sensor area (104), wherein each pixel (110) comprises at least one electrode (120) at the surface, wherein each pixel (110) is configured to control the configuration of the pixel circuitry and set a measurement modality of the pixel; recording circuitry having a plurality of recording channels (130), wherein each pixel (110) is connected to a recording channel (130), wherein each recording channel (130) comprises a reconfigurable component (131), which is selectively controlled between being set to a first mode, in which the reconfigurable component (131) is configured to amplify a received pixel signal, and being set to a second mode, in which the reconfigurable component (131) is configured to selectively pass a frequency band of the received pixel signal.

Systems and methods for the efficient agitation of tissue samples. A device may include a plurality of chambers that each receives samples therein. The plurality of chambers may be uniformly spaced with respect to a least one dimension, to form a one dimensional or two dimensional array. Each of the chambers may include an opening and an agitator device in fluid contact with the sample disposed within the chamber. The agitator devices may include a micromotor which provides rotational motion to a shaft and an impeller fixed to the shaft such that the impeller and the shaft rotate together upon provision of the rotational motion by the micromotor. The system may include an electrical energy source electrically coupled to the plurality of micromotors to rotate the impellers sufficient to agitate the sample as required for a particular activity (e.g., homogenization, lysis).

An instrument for detecting signal from a biological sample includes a pipettor module configured to hold a plurality of pipettes in respective pipette positions, to hold liquid in one or more pipette tips, and to pipette liquid in and out of the one or more pipette tips. Each of the one or more pipette tips has a pipette tip point. The instrument further includes one or more magnets positioned such that each of the one or more pipette tips is adjacent one of the one or more magnets.

Certain configurations are described herein of a fluid handling apparatus that comprises a projector configured to provide an image of labware onto a support. The provided image can be used to assist a user in proper placement of the labware onto the support. The system can be configured to determine if the labware has been properly placed prior to beginning any fluid handling operations.

Light detection devices and related methods are provided. The devices may comprise a reaction structure for containing a reaction solution with a relatively high or low pH and a plurality of reaction sites that generate light emissions. The devices may comprise a device base comprising a plurality of light sensors, device circuitry coupled to the light sensors, and a plurality of light guides that block excitation light but permit the light emissions to pass to a light sensor. The device base may also include a shield layer extending about each light guide between each light guide and the device circuitry, and a protection layer that is chemically inert with respect to the reaction solution extending about each light guide between each light guide and the shield layer. The protection layer prevents reaction solution that passes through the reaction structure and the light guide from interacting with the device circuitry.

An acoustic liquid transfer system comprises: a processor; a source holding component configured to hold a source microplate; a destination holding component configured to hold a destination microplate; an acoustic transducer configured to cause liquid to transfer between the source and destination microplates; and a controller configured to direct movements, according to an ordered picklist, of one or more of the: source holding component, destination holding component, and acoustic transducer. The processor is configured to access an initial picklist of a plurality of source/destination pairs; obtain a current source/destination pair on the ordered picklist being created, calculate a plurality of movement metrics between the current source/destination pair and at least some of the plurality of source/destination pairs on the initial picklist but not yet on the ordered picklist, select a next source/destination pair with reference to the movement metrics: and add the next source/destination pair to the ordered picklist.

Resolution of images used in processes such as sequencing by synthesis may be increased by structuring sites that would emit signals in the images to have different elevations. Differences in focus caused by these differences in elevation may be used to filter out background illumination, thereby providing an image in which in focus sites may be resolved even though the separation between any site and its nearest neighbor may be below the diffraction limit of the light that would be emitted.