A method and system for heating and/or inspecting a portable microfluidic assay cartridge for performing an assay includes receiving the assay cartridge on a receiving region of a translatable table under automated control, heating the cartridge, during performance of the assay, with a planar radiant heater plate, the heater plate having an aperture through which an inspection axis extends, and/or inspecting the cartridge using an optical system constructed to inspect the cartridge along the inspection axis by reading a fluorescent light signal which passes through the aperture in the heater plate. In addition, the cartridge moves with movement of the translation table, and the heater plate and optical system may be stationary, and the inspection axis may be fixed.

Methods and systems are provided for isolating circulating tumor cells from a peripheral blood supply in order to diagnose early stage cancer and/or evaluate tumor status. In one example, a system for capturing circulating tumor cells includes a substrate having a cell-capturing region, the cell-capturing region having a curved, switchback-like shape and including an array of micropillar structures within the curved, switchback-like shape.

The present invention relates to methods of detecting one or more targets of interest in a sample. In one instance, the target can be correlated to an active infection (e.g., by a virus and/or a bacterium). Methods can include treating the sample with a dissociation agent, thereby releasing the target of interest for more accurate detection (e.g., by use of a sedimentation-based centrifugal microfluidic devices). Also described herein are microfluidic devices and systems for use with a dissociation agent.

Methods and devices for concentrating target cells using dielectrophoresis (DEP) are disclosed. The method allows relatively high throughput of sample through a microfluidic device in order to allow rapid capture of target cells even when they are present in low concentrations within the sample. The method utilizes multiple chambers through which samples will flow, the chambers arranged such that the first capture area has a larger area and faster flow rate than a second chamber, the second chamber being positioned downstream of the first capture area and being smaller with a slower flow rate to further concentrate the material captured in the first capture area.

Disclosed herein include systems, apparatuses, devices, and methods for introducing one or more components into a fluid. A first fluid and a second fluid can be co-injected into a fluidic channel of a flow cell. In some embodiments, the first fluid and a second fluid are immiscible (e.g. an aqueous buffer and a non-aqueous liquid). In some embodiments, the second fluid is less dense than the first fluid.

Emulsion breaking and phase separation is achieved by droplet adhesion. An emulsion breaking device includes a channel having distinct adjacent zones with distinctly different surface wettability characteristics, namely, solvophilic and solvophobic surfaces. The device is positioned such that the upstream portion of the device is configured to be wetted by the continuous phase of the emulsion, and the downstream portion of the device is configured to be wetted by the dispersed phase of the emulsion. As the emulsion flows from the upstream zone to the downstream zone, the change in surface wettability characteristics promotes adhesion of the dispersed phase as the dispersed phase wets the surface of the downstream portion of the channel, which results in breaking of the emulsion. Subsequent collection of the broken emulsion in a collection vessel results in separation of the disparate phases to facilitate their recapture and recycling.

A multi-channel microfluidic device for multi-parallel analyte detection includes a substrate and a multi-channel microfluidic assembly formed in the substrate. The multi-channel microfluidic assembly comprises a synchronized port; a plurality of separate ports; a plurality of channels arranged in parallel, where each of the plurality of channels includes a first end and a second end opposite to the first end; a first branch channel assembly; and a plurality of second branch assemblies. The synchronized port is connected with all the first ends of the plurality of the channels via the first branch channel assembly. Each of the plurality of the separate ports is in connection with the second end of each of the plurality of the channels via each of the plurality of the second branch channel assemblies.

A system for filling multiple sterile containers includes a filter with an inlet port and multiple outlet ports, the outlet ports being pre-attached to sterile containers by respective filling lines of each container. Each container has an interior and each of the respective filling lines are connected to a respective container interior. The respective filling lines are sealed to the outlet ports and the containers such that the container interiors are isolated from an external environment except the inlet port, via the filter, forming a combined interior volume which is sterile. A container that is connectable to an outlet port the system has a bladder, a first tube and a second tube connected to the bladder, and a sterilizing filter. The container, the first tube and the second tube, and the sterilizing filter are sterile before water is flowed through the sterilizing filter into the bladder.

Methods and systems are provided for isolating fetal cells from a maternal blood supply in order to perform non-invasive prenatal testing. In one example, a system for non-invasive prenatal testing includes a substrate coated with a cell-capturing surface, the cell-capturing surface including an array of pillar-like structures, each pillar-like structure including a plurality of intersecting arms.

A coagulation test device for measuring clotting time and clot characteristics of a whole blood sample under different hemostatic conditions. Results of the test are used as an aid in management of patients with coagulopathy of unknown etiology in order to help the physician determine appropriate clinical action to arrest bleeding in a patient.