Provided is a support for fluorescence polarization immunoassay of which reaction parts are loaded with an antibody and a fluorescent labeling substance. The plurality of reaction parts may be loaded with different concentrations of an antibody and a fluorescent labeling substance. Further, antibodies having different binding affinities for a target substance may be loaded. With such a support, fluorescence polarizations can be measured simply by adding a sample solution containing a target substance to the reaction parts, and a wide measurement range of the concentration the target substance can be secured.

The invention provides a method, apparatus and system for separating blood and other types of cellular components, and can be combined with holographic optical trapping manipulation or other forms of optical tweezing. One of the exemplary methods includes providing a first flow having a plurality of blood components; providing a second flow; contacting the first flow with the second flow to provide a first separation region; and differentially sedimenting a first blood cellular component of the plurality of blood components into the second flow while concurrently maintaining a second blood cellular component of the plurality of blood components in the first flow. The second flow having the first blood cellular component is then differentially removed from the first flow having the second blood cellular component. Holographic optical traps may also be utilized in conjunction with the various flows to move selected components from one flow to another, as part of or in addition to a separation stage.

A method for extracting or enriching immune cells in a fluid sample, which contains immune and cancer cells and debris, includes the steps introducing the fluid sample into a first microfluidic device as two streams along two sidewalls thereof; applying a first power to the first microfluidic device to exert a first acoustic radiation pressure to produce a first output fluid having a higher relative fraction of the cancer cells than the fluid sample and a second output fluid having a lower relative fraction of the cancer cells than the fluid sample; introducing the second output fluid into a second microfluidic device as two streams along two sidewalls thereof; and applying a second power, which is higher than the first power, to the second microfluidic device to exert a second acoustic radiation pressure to produce a third output fluid having a higher relative fraction of the immune cells than the fluid sample.

A method for separating biological entities in a fluid sample, which contains small, medium, and large biological entities, includes the steps introducing the fluid sample into a first microfluidic device as two streams along two sidewalls thereof; applying a first power to the first microfluidic device to exert a first acoustic radiation pressure to produce a first output fluid having a higher relative fraction of the large biological entities than the fluid sample and a second output fluid having a lower relative fraction of the large biological entities than the fluid sample; introducing the second output fluid into a second microfluidic device as two streams along two sidewalls thereof; and applying a second power, which is higher than the first power, to the second microfluidic device to exert a second acoustic radiation pressure to produce a third output fluid having a higher relative fraction of the medium biological entities than the fluid sample.

A microfluidic device containing an inlet, a microchannel in fluid communication with the inlet, and a plurality of outlets in fluid communication with the microchannel. The microchannel contains a loop; or from about 1 loop to about 50 loops; or from about 2 loops to about 25 loops; or from about 5 loops to about 15 loops. A method for detecting an infected cell may employ the microfluidic device.

There is provided a microchip comprising: a main flow path through which a liquid containing microparticles flows; and a branch flow path that branches from the main flow path. A cross-sectional area of a portion of the main flow path is substantially constant up to a branch start position or decreases toward the branch start position, and a radius of curvature R of a side wall that connects a side wall of the main flow path and a side wall of the branch flow path is 0.5 mm or less and more than 0 mm.

The present invention relates to methods, devices, instruments, processes, and systems for the highly specific, targeted molecular analysis of regions of human genomes and transcriptomes from the blood, i.e. from cell free circulating DNA, exosomes, microRNA, lncRNA, circulating tumor cells, or total blood cells. The technology enables highly sensitive identification and enumeration of mutation, expression, copy number, translocation, alternative splicing, and methylation changes using spatial multiplexing and combined nuclease, ligation, polymerase, and sequencing reactions. Such technology may be used for non-invasive early detection of cancer, non-invasive cancer prognosis, and monitoring both treatment efficacy and disease recurrence of cancer.

Microfluidic devices are described that include a microfluidic channel, a first array of one or more magnets above the microfluidic channel, each magnet in the first array having a magnetic pole orientation opposite to a magnetic pole orientation of an adjacent magnet in the first array, and a second array of one or more magnets beneath the microfluidic channel, each magnet in the second array having a magnetic pole orientation opposite to a magnetic pole orientation of an adjacent magnet in the second array. The first array is aligned with respect to the second array such that magnetic fields emitted by the first array and second array generate a magnetic flux gradient profile extending through the channel. An absolute value of the profile includes a first maximum and a second maximum that bound a local minimum. The local minimum is located within the microfluidic channel or less than 5 mm away from a wall of the microfluidic channel. Methods of using the new devices are also described.

The present invention is a method and apparatus for acoustically manipulating one or more particles.

The present invention provides systems and methods for using acoustic radiation pressure to fractionate particles within a fluid.