The present disclosure relates to a device for the thermal treatment of samples, including: a base unit with a receiving region; a cover for closing the receiving region, the cover movable from a first, open position into a second, closed position; at least one connecting element connected to the cover; and a cover drive disposed in the base unit and coupled to the at least one connecting element as to drive a movement of the cover such that, during the movement from an open into a closed position, the cover is initially brought from the open position into a third position, in which the cover extends parallel to and spaced from the receiving region, and such that the cover is further moved from the third position in a direction of a shared normal until the cover has reached the closed position.

The present disclosure relates to a tempering block module for the thermal treatment of samples, comprising: a tempering block; and an ejection mechanism for lifting reaction vessels off the tempering block, the ejection mechanism including first and second ejection plungers that are movably mounted in the tempering block module perpendicular to the tempering block from a first position, retracted into the tempering block module, into a second position, extended out of the tempering block module, and wherein the tempering block module includes a first plunger drive connected to the first ejection plunger for driving the movement of the first ejection plunger and a second plunger drive, different from the first plunger drive, connected to the second ejection plunger for driving the movement of the second ejection plunger from the first to the second position or from the second to the first position.

A tool device for the automated opening of flip tubes including an actuating plunger which is provided and configured to move the actuating portion at least in open direction and thereby to exert an opening moment on the lid portion, and wherein the device further includes a damping means which is configured to exert a damping moment on the container lid at least during a period of the actuation of the actuating portion by the actuating plunger, which damping moment is less in amount and is in an opposite direction compared to the opening moment.

A closure for dispensing one or more active agents into a container comprises a sealed or sealable chamber having a breakable wall and a hollow piston slidably mounted in a piston guide. Said hollow piston comprises an outer wall having an end in the chamber and at least one ventilation aperture. Said end has a cutting formation. Said hollow piston is slidable in the piston guide between a ventilation position in which the at least one ventilation aperture allows ventilation of the chamber and a sealed position in which the at least one ventilation aperture is sealed to prevent ventilation of the chamber and a deployed position in which the cutting formation has broken through at least a portion of the breakable wall. The outer wall has a retaining formation which engages with the piston guide to releasably resist sliding of the hollow piston between the ventilation position and the sealed position and the deployed position. The hollow piston may have an outer wall, and said outer wall has an end within the chamber, facing the breakable wall, wherein the cutting end has a first edge having a cutting formation and a gap in said cutting formation.

Biological samples, such as saliva, are commonly collected on a swab and subsequently transferred to an absorbent storage medium. Embodiments of the present invention provide a biological sample collection device 600 comprising a collection portion 620 and a body portion 610, the body portion including a holding portion 652 for holding a biological sample storage medium (618 FIG. 1), and a sample collection/transfer means. The collection portion 620 can be arranged in a first position shown in FIG. 4, separated from the body portion for collecting a sample. The device employs depressible latches (630, 640 FIG. 6) to control the movements of the collection portion.

A recirculating bath includes a reservoir for receiving a working liquid, a recirculating pump, and at least one thermal element. The recirculating pump and thermal element are located externally to the reservoir so that the reservoir has an unobstructed working space. The thermal element may be thermally coupled to the working liquid through an interior surface of the reservoir, or the working liquid may be circulated over the thermal element by the recirculating pump in a chamber external to the reservoir. The recirculating bath may also include a lid that provides access to the reservoir by pivoting on a latching hinge. When open, the lid may provide a working surface adjacent to the reservoir. The lid may also include a selector that unlatches the hinge so that the lid can be removed. The recirculating pump may be fluidically coupled to the reservoir via a manifold.

The invention relates to methods for conducting solid-phase binding assays. One example is an assay method having improved analyte specificity where specificity is limited by the presence of non-specific binding interactions.

A fluidic device holder configured to orient a fluidic device. The device holder includes a support structure configured to receive a fluidic device. The support structure includes a base surface that faces in a direction along the Z-axis and is configured to have the fluidic device positioned thereon. The device holder also includes a plurality of reference surfaces facing in respective directions along an XY-plane. The device holder also includes an alignment assembly having an actuator and a movable locator arm that is operatively coupled to the actuator. The locator arm has an engagement end. The actuator moves the locator arm between retracted and biased positions to move the engagement end away from and toward the reference surfaces. The locator arm is configured to hold the fluidic device against the reference surfaces when the locator arm is in the biased position.

A pipette-fillable fluid reservoir body. The fluid reservoir body includes two or more discrete fluid chambers therein. At least one of the fluid chambers contains a pressure compensation device and at least another one of the fluid chambers is devoid of a pressure compensation device. Each of the fluid chambers is in fluid flow communication with a fluid supply via, and each of the fluid chambers have sidewalls and a bottom wall attached to the side walls, wherein the bottom wall slopes toward the fluid supply via. The fluid reservoir body also includes an ejection head support face in fluid flow communication with the fluid chambers for attachment of a fluid ejection device to the ejection head support face for ejecting fluid from the fluid chambers.

Methods and devices for detecting a target agent of interest, e.g., a pathogen, in a sample are described herein. In some embodiments, a sensor is provided that can include a substrate, a graphene layer disposed on a surface of said substrate, and a protein bound to said graphene layer. The protein can be capable of binding to one or more target agents of interest, e.g., pathogens, etc. The binding of the protein to the one or more target agents of interest can generate a change in an electrical property of the graphene layer.