A screening device for testing saliva for the presence of certain constituents. The device has a D-shaped profile when viewed from above and includes a first wall with planar front face through which all of the test strips are viewed and a curved rear second wall. The device also includes a floor surface with an uppermost portion extending from the rear wall to a lowermost portion at the first wall such that saliva squeezed from a sampler at a location between the upper most portion and the lowermost portion flows downwardly to the test strips.

The invention describes a method for isolating one or more genetic elements encoding a gene product having a desired activity, comprising the steps of: (a) compartmentalising genetic elements into microcapsules; and (b) sorting the genetic elements which express the gene product having the desired activity; wherein at least one step is under microfluidic control. The invention enables the in vitro evolution of nucleic acids and proteins by repeated mutagenesis and iterative applications of the method of the invention.

In one aspect, nanoplasmonic devices are described herein. In some embodiments, a nanoplasmonic device comprises a radiation transmissive substrate, a metal layer positioned on the substrate and at least one aperture extending through the metal layer to the radiation transmissive substrate, wherein width of the aperture decreases with increasing depth of the aperture.

A particle manipulation system uses a MEMS-based, microfabricated particle manipulation device which has a sample inlet channel, output channels, and a movable member formed on a substrate. The device may be used to separate a target particle from non-target material in a sample stream. In order to improve the sorter speed, accuracy or yield, the particle manipulation system may also include a microfluidic structure which focuses the target particles in a particular portion of the sample inlet channel. The particle manipulation device may have two separate sort output channels, wherein the sort channel used depends on the characteristics of the sort pulse delivered to the micromechanical particle manipulation device.

Several microfluidic chips are used to significantly accelerate the time to identify and quantify microbes in a biological sample and test them for antibiotic resistance, particularly for urinary tract infections. A first microfluidic chip uses antibody or similar probes to identify and quantify any microbes present. The same or a similar chip uses antibody or similar probes to identify microbes with DNA or RNA known to indicate antibiotic resistance. Another microfluidic chip tests for antibiotic susceptibility of any microbes by growing them in very small wells in the presence of antibiotics, reducing the time required for such testing by as much as 95%. Another microfluidic chip runs traditional urinalysis or similar tests.

The invention generally relates to methods for quantifying an amount of enzyme molecules. Systems and methods of the invention are provided for measuring an amount of target by forming a plurality of fluid partitions, a subset of which include the target, performing enzyme-catalyzed reaction in the subset, and detecting the number of partitions in the sunset. The amount of target can be determined based on the detected number.

The present disclose provides methods and systems for amplifying and quantifying nucleic acids and for detecting the presence or absence of a target in a sample. The methods and systems provided herein may utilize a device comprising a plurality of partitions separated from an external environment by a gas-permeable barrier. Certain methods disclosed herein involve subjecting nucleic acid molecules in the plurality of partitions to conditions sufficient to conduct nucleic acid amplification reactions. The nucleic acid molecules may be subjected to controlled heating in the plurality of partitions to generate data indicative of a melting point(s) of the nucleic acid molecules.

A method and a micro fluidic device comprising at least one micro fluidic structure for differential extraction of nuclear and extra-nuclear constituents of a single cell, said micro fluidic structure comprising a feeding channel for receiving a volume of a sample containing at least one cell, at least one trapping structure for capturing a single cell, and at least one output channel in fluid connection with the at least one trapping structure, wherein the at least one trapping structure extends from one side of the feeding channel substantially perpendicular to longitudinal axis of the feeding channel, the at least one trapping structure possessing an aperture at its end opposite to the fluid channel and in fluid communication with an output channel, said aperture being configured to provide a narrow section such that the nucleus of a cell captured in the trapping structure cannot pass through said narrow section into the output channel.

Blood typing systems and methods are provided. In one embodiment, the method may be achieved by applying a sample to a surface of a substrate having one or more binding agents immobilized thereon, wherein the one or more binding agents are capable of binding to one or more substances in the sample; substantially removing unbound material from at least a portion of the substrate having immobilized binding agent; and detecting substances bound to the one or more binding agents immobilized on the substrate; wherein the applying the sample to the surface of the substrate step is concurrent with the removing unbound material from at least a portion of the substrate step. Systems and other methods are also described and illustrated.

The present invention generally pertains to a system for performing droplet inflation, and methods and kits comprising the same. The system comprises at least one microfluidic channel comprising one or more droplets flowing therein, one or more fluid reservoirs, one or more inflators, one or more inflator nozzles, and at least one mechanism for disrupting an interface between a droplet and a fluid. The present invention provides for the inflation of a relatively controlled volume of fluid into a droplet resulting in an increase in the volume of the droplet relative to its volume prior to inflation and, accordingly, dilution of the concentration of species, if any, previously present and emulsified in the droplet.