An apparatus and method for isolating bacterial particles in a sample using a container with material in temporary fluid blocking position to lower orifice in the container, a separation medium having an electrical conductivity lower than and physical density greater than that of the sample above the material that supports a sample concentrate after passing through the separation medium when exposed to centrifugal force, a heating element for liquefying the material to permit flow into a chamber past an electrode array that attracts and holds subject particles. The system allows rapid detection and isolation of particles from samples from animal, human, environmental sites, a bio-industrial reactor or a food or beverage production facility requiring relatively small volumes, short incubation times resulting in structurally intact particles for further analysis. Testing may be completed in a single unit that requires decreased technician manipulation, fewer steps and a decrease in cross-contamination.

Provided herein are devices, systems, and methods for particle sorting, including cell sorting, using microfluidics cartridges and microchips and the manufacture of the microfluidics cartridges and microchips by high-throughput approaches. Such methods, devices, and systems can be used to identify, sort, and collect a subset of particles or a single particle from a sample. The capability to manufacture such microfluidic tools in high volume may lower production costs and allow for the microfluidic tools to be used as consumables.

The virus test device encompasses a pseudo-receptor film having pseudo-receptors mimicking a structure of a host-cell receptor, which binds specifically to a target virus, a virus introducing-tube for sucking down an air-under-test (AUT) containing the target viruses, to compress the AUT into a high-speed air-flow of aerosols-under-test, concentrating the target viruses contained in the AUT, and to eject the high-speed air-flow to the pseudo-receptor film, a signal conditioner for converting physical signals, which represent alterations of physical states of the pseudo-receptor film ascribable to specific bindings of the pseudo-receptors with the target viruses, to electric signals.

A tunable inertial sheathing (TIS) system and methods for particle-size-insensitive high-throughput single-stream focusing of particles suspended in a particle-carrying fluid are provided. The TIS conditions particles to distribute locally within one of compartments of inertial force field, followed by an inertial focusing to migrate it to a single foci. For the particle localization, the TIS system introduces an arbitrary form of peripheral sheathing by generating and accumulating sheath fluid from particle-carrying fluid through a combination of inertial focusing, channel bifurcation and channel confluence. Multiple forms of the TIS system are also provided, each including one main channel and at least one bypass channel. The main channel includes and cascades at least three segments, at least one bifurcating junction and at least one confluence junction.

A microfluidic device can comprise at least one swept region that is fluidically connected to unswept regions. The fluidic connections between the swept region and the unswept regions can enable diffusion but substantially no flow of media between the swept region and the unswept regions. The capability of biological micro-objects to produce an analyte of interest can be assayed in such a microfluidic device. Biological micro-objects in sample material loaded into a microfluidic device can be selected for particular characteristics and disposed into unswept regions. The sample material can then be flowed out of the swept region and an assay material flowed into the swept region. Flows of medium in the swept region do not substantially affect the biological micro-objects in the unswept regions, but any analyte of interest produced by a biological micro-object can diffuse from an unswept region into the swept region, where the analyte can react with the assay material to produce a localized detectable reaction. Any such detected reactions can be analyzed to determine which, if any, of the biological micro-objects are producers of the analyte of interest.

The present disclosure provides apparatuses, systems, and methods for performing particle analysis through flow cytometry at comparatively high event rates and for gathering high resolution images of particles.

Devices, systems, and their methods of use, for generating droplets are provided. One or more geometric parameters of a microfluidic channel can be selected to generate droplets of a desired and predictable droplet size.

Microscale and/or mesoscale condenser arrays that can facilitate microfluidic separation and/or purification of mesoscale and/or nanoscale particles and methods of operation are described herein. An apparatus comprises a condenser array comprising pillars arranged in a plurality of columns, wherein a pillar gap greater than or equal to about 0.5 micrometers is located between a first pillar of the pillars in a first column of the columns and a second pillar of the plurality of pillars in the first column, and wherein the first pillar is adjacent to the second pillar. The first ratio can be characterized by D.sub.x/D.sub.y is less than or equal to a first defined value, wherein D.sub.x represents a first distance across the lattice in a first direction, wherein D.sub.y represents a second distance across the lattice in a second direction, and wherein the first direction is orthogonal to the second direction.

A microfluidic device comprising a channel within a substrate and a condenser or a hydrodynamic focusing chamber along the channel, configured to focus a fluid containing particles of a plurality of sizes. A negative angle deterministic lateral displacement (DLD) array is configured to receive the focused fluid and separate the particles in the focused fluid into three sizes ranges. The negative angle DLD array comprises a plurality of rows of pillars, wherein the rows of pillars are positioned to repeat a pattern every N rows with a shift of M columns, N and M are relatively coprime, and N is greater than 1.

The present invention generally relates to systems and methods to create stable emulsions with low rates of exchange of molecules between microdroplets.