An optofluidic diagnostic system and methods for rapid analyte detections. The system comprises an optofluidic sensor array, a test plate and an optical detection cartridge. The sensor array supports one or more distinct sensor units, each having a reactor section designed to temporarily enter a series of different kinds of wells in the test plate. One kind of well is a sample reservoir that holds reagent solution to be transferred into the reactor section. Another kind of well is a drainage chamber that removes reagent solution from the reactor section. A third kind of well is a colorant reservoir that holds a colorant reagent transferable into a reactor section. Finally, the sensor unit is transferred to the optical detection cartridge where it is placed into an isolation booth during the optical detection process so that its flat observation face is stationed in a viewing window opposite an optical detector lens.

Method of analysis. In the method, a first emulsion and a second emulsion substantially separated from one another by a spacer fluid may be formed. The first emulsion, the spacer fluid, and the second emulsion may be flowed in a channel from a fluid inlet to a fluid outlet of a heating and cooling station having two or more temperature-controlled zones, such that each emulsion is thermally cycled to promote amplification of a nucleic acid target in droplets of the emulsion. Amplification data may be collected from individual droplets of each emulsion downstream of the heating and cooling station. A level of the nucleic acid target present in each emulsion may be determined based on the amplification data collected from the individual droplets of the emulsion.

The present invention may provide a microfluidic device including a rotatable body; a first chamber positioned in a direction of an inner wall of the body; a second chamber positioned in a direction of an outer wall of the body from the first chamber; and a backflow prevention unit, and wherein a fluid is transferred from the first chamber to the second chamber, and wherein the backflow prevention unit prevents a backflow of the fluid from the second chamber to the first chamber.

Systems and methods are provided to assist in developing a precision medicine approach using a microfluidic cell having a releasable, aqueous interfacial film to separate tissue channels. The approach can include a personalized medicine treatment plan. The systems and methods emulate cellular communication in a disease state in a more accurate aqueous environment and provide data on the interaction between the cells that can be used to develop a treatment for a subject in need. The systems and methods also can be used to assess the effect of a particular treatment, such as a drug therapy, radiation therapy, or a combination thereof, for example. The systems and methods can show how a particular therapy is affected by any of several known factors including, but not limited to, the sex of the subject, the age of the subject, hereditary factors or other genetic predispositions, as well as perhaps other physiological states of the subject, or a combination thereof.

A device for storing, incubating or manipulating biological samples, in particular incubating device or shaking device, comprising a sample chamber, an irradiation chamber, and a holder with a UV light source, wherein a sidewall of the irradiation chamber comprises a first mounting member and wherein the holder comprises a second mounting member configured to interact with the first mounting member for pre-mounting the holder to the sidewall.

A portable motorized centrifugal system is optimized for low cost manufacture and operation. Separation of inhomogeneous fluid biological samples, such as liquid plasma from whole blood, is a common step in medical diagnostic tests. This system may enable remote separation where access to plug-in power sources are limited. The system may facilitate at-home testing. Due to biohazard concerns, the entire centrifugal apparatus portable and disposable, or the system includes one or more disposable elements within the interior of the centrifuge. Alternatively, the system may contain a module of higher value components that are re-usable after disinfection. Devices and methods for implementing centrifugal separation may include disk-shaped fluidic cartridges and tubes with reduced drag cross-section.

The 2D barcode at the base of a sample tube is protected from frosting by an air pocket within a wall of high thermal conductivity material that surrounds the barcode. The wall is of thermal conductivity greater than 14W/m K and preferably greater than 200W/m K. The wall may be formed as a skirt extending from the base of the sample tube or as a part of a supporting rack. The wall, cooled by the sample tube and the frozen sample within the tube, collects frost that would otherwise collect on the 2D barcode and deflects the flow of moist air that would otherwise flow against the barcode.

The present invention provides improved devices for co-culture of cells. The devices include inserts having invertible wells that can be lowered into a well of any standard cell culture plate. A first population of cells can be cultured in the invertible wells of the inserts and a second population of cells can be cultured in the wells of a cell culture plate. Once the first population of cells attach to the invertible wells, the inserts are flipped over and placed into the wells of the cell culture plate to co-culture with the second population of cells.

The present invention relates to an automatic culture device using a single-use closed system flow path for culturing a cell or a tissue, and realizes reduction in manufacturing cost and high integration property of a device. A cell culture system including an automatic culture device and an information processing device. The automatic culture device includes a plurality of types of closed system flow paths possible to be installed and removed, and a plurality of culture devices. The information processing device includes: an input device configured to receive, as an input, at least one piece of data selected from a group consisting of data of an identifier of a patient, data related to a transplantation method, data related to a type of cell, data related to the required number of cells, and data related to a treatment plan; an arithmetic device configured to select, based on the input data, from options of a cell culture method, the culture devices, and the closed system flow paths, the cell culture method, the culture device, and the closed system flow path to be used; and an output device configured to output a number of the closed system flow path to be used and a number of the culture device to be used.

A system comprising a calorimeter for measuring a heat flux of a sample comprising a recipient space for a sample container containing a sample, a heat sink, a first heat transducer whereby the first heat transducer comprises a heat receiving surface in contact with the sample container when the sample container is positioned in the recipient space and a heat absorbing surface in contact with the heat sink. A second heat sink is provided, whereby the second heat sink has a second heat receiving surface in contact with the heat sink and a second heat absorbing surface in contact with the sample container, when the sample container is positioned in the recipient space.