An easy to use test device for the testing of liquids comprising a primary chamber to receive an initial liquid sample and a multiplicity of secondary regions arranged to each receive an aliquot of the initial liquid sample from the primary chamber, wherein the test device is movable in use between two positions, a first position and a second position. The device is especially suitable for carrying out on-site microbial assays with a minimal requirement for user expertise and additional apparatus. The invention also provides related methods and apparatus.

A thermal cycle device includes a mounting section capable of mounting a reaction vessel having a flow path that forms a circular ring or a part of a circular ring in which a reaction solution moves; a first heating section capable of heating a first region of the reaction vessel to a first temperature; and a drive mechanism that switches the reaction vessel between a first disposition and a second disposition. The first disposition is a disposition in which the first region is the lowermost portion of the reaction vessel in a direction in which gravity acts. The second disposition is a disposition in which a second region different from the first region of the reaction vessel is the lowermost portion of the reaction vessel in the direction in which gravity acts.

A microfluidic apparatus is provided having one or more sequestration pens configured to isolate one or more target micro-objects by changing the orientation of the microfluidic apparatus with respect to a globally active force, such as gravity. Methods of selectively directing the movements of micro-objects in such a microfluidic apparatus using gravitational forces are also provided. The micro-objects can be biological micro-objects, such as cells, or inanimate micro-objects, such as beads.

An apparatus (10) for characterizing particles, comprising: a microscope objective with an optical axis and a depth of field; a holder cell (22) configured to position the particles in a generally planar volume below the microscope objective, the planar volume being substantially normal to the optical axis and having a depth that is less than or equal to the depth of field, wherein a portion of the cell holder (22) for positioning in the optical axis of the microscope objective is substantially free of significant spectral features in a Raman spectral range; an x-y stage (20) to move the microscope objective relative to the holder cell (22) in x and y directions to align particles with the optical axis of the microscope objective while the particles are held by the holder cell (22), a detector (18) for acquiring an image of a particle through the microscope objective, a laser operable to illuminate a particle held by the holder cell (22), a Raman spectrometer (16) arranged to obtain a spectrum including the Raman spectral range from the illuminated particle, and characterizing logic operative to characterize the particle based on image processing operations performed on the acquired image and based on the Raman spectrum. The holder cell (22) comprises a first plate (34) and a second plate (36) that are separated by a predetermined distance defining the planar volume depth.

A dissolution device for measuring a dissolution rate of a test sample in a fluid, the device comprising a first cavity and a second cavity, wherein each of the first and second cavities has a fluid inlet for connection to a fluid supply, and wherein the device comprises an opening between the first and second cavities, and the device comprises a sample support configured to position the test sample across the opening.

A microfluidic device is for processing and aliquoting a sample liquid. The microfluidic device has a dividing chamber for receiving a starting volume of the sample liquid. The dividing chamber has a plurality of cavities for receiving sub-volumes of the sample liquid, the sub-volumes being usable for analytical reactions. The microfluidic device also has a microfluidic network for using the dividing chamber in a fluid-mechanical manner and at least one pump device for pumping fluids within the device. The at least one pump device and the microfluidic network are configured to pump the sample liquid, as a first phase, and a sealing liquid, as a second phase, through the microfluidic network and into the dividing chamber in order to seal the sub-volumes of the sample liquid in the cavities using the sealing liquid.

Fluidic multiwell bioreactors are provided as a microphysiological platform for in vitro investigation of multi-organ crosstalks for an extended period of time of at least weeks and months. The disclosed platform is featured with one or more improvements over existing bioreactors, including on-board pumping for pneumatically driven fluid flow, a redesigned spillway for self-leveling from source to sink, a non-contact built-in fluid level sensing device, precise control on fluid flow profile and partitioning, and facile reconfigurations such as daisy chaining and multilayer stacking. The platform supports the culture of multiple organs in a microphysiological, interacted systems, suitable for a wide range of biomedical applications including systemic toxicity studies and physiology-based pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic predictions. A process to fabricate the disclosed bioreactors is also provided.

The present invention related to a reaction vessel and an assay device. A reaction vessel for analysis a sample containing an analyte to be determined, which includes a casing, a first reagent and at least one independent individual element. The casing includes an opening and a detection zone. The opening may be formed on the edge of the casing and used to introduce the sample. The detection zone is disposed at a corner of the casing and used to detect the analyte. The reagent is interacted with the sample. The independent individual element is individually separating from the casing and providing a space and a flow channel for mixing the sample and the first reagent. The sample and the reagent are mixed in the independent individual element so as to determine the analyte in the detection zone, and thereby increasing accuracy of analyte detection.

A method of processing a sample in a receptacle comprising a plurality of chambers. Each of the chambers is connected to at least one other chamber by a portal and at least a first one of the chambers is formed of a flexible material. The method includes the steps of causing gas bubbles contained in the first chamber to accumulate in a portion of the first chamber, applying a compressive external force to the first chamber to cause some or all of the liquid contents of the first chamber to flow into an interconnected second chamber through a portal connecting the first and second chambers; and preventing the gas bubbles accumulated in a portion of the first chamber from flowing through the portal into the second chamber.

A nucleic acid amplification reaction method includes subjecting a reaction mixture containing a nucleic acid amplification reaction reagent to be used for amplifying a nucleic acid to a thermal cycle for amplifying the nucleic acid, wherein in the thermal cycle, a heating time for an annealing reaction and an elongation reaction is 1 sec or more and 10 sec or less, the nucleic acid amplification reaction reagent contains a forward primer, a reverse primer, a polymerase, and a fluorescently labeled probe, the concentration of the forward primer is 0.4 μM or more and 3.2 μM or less, the concentration of the reverse primer is 0.4 μM or more and 3.2 μM or less, the amount of the polymerase is 0.5 U or more and 4 U or less, and the concentration of the fluorescently labeled probe is 0.15 μM or more and 1.2 μM or less.