A microfluidic pumping system for providing continuous or pulsed pumping action of a sample fluid along a microfluidic channel of a microfluidic device is described. The pumping system comprises at least one actuator comprising an actuator channel and at least one polarizer for generating pumping fluid motion, and at least one microfluidic rectification system for facilitating the flow of a sample fluid in a predetermined direction, the at least one microfluidic rectification system being laid out in or along the microfluidic channel, and the at least one actuator being adapted for creating a pressure in the microfluidic channel, the system thus being adapted for providing continuous or pulsed fluid movement of the sample fluid along the microfluidic channel when actuation of the pumping fluid in the actuator channel takes place and further providing sample fluid immobilization when no actuation takes place.

Provided are multiplex devices for nucleic acid detection and methods for nucleic acid detection. The device includes at least two parallel buffer units comprised of buffer wells arranged in a row. The buffer units are connected to form a multiplex device. A mixing unit is slides along a bottom of each buffer unit to align with each buffer well in turn. When the mixing unit is aligned with a buffer well, a ball valve releases buffer from the buffer well into the mixing well. The device includes a detection unit removably coupled to the bottom of each mixing unit to receive fluids from the mixing well.

A method and system for processing a sample in a fluid is provided. An assembly comprising a cap prefilled with a fixative solution, a valve, and a container for storing a tissue sample are provided. The valve is adapted to be situated between the cap and the container such that fluid can flow from the cap into the container when the assembly is upright, but the fluid cannot backflow from the container to the cap when the assembly is horizontal or inverted.

A reagent cartridge includes a drug solution storage section which has a first window section and a drug solution chamber, a case section which holds the drug solution storage section movably in the negative Z-axis direction and has a second window section and a nozzle section, a spring which biases the drug solution storage section, and a discharge mechanism for discharging a predetermined amount of the drug solution from the nozzle section by the moving motion of the drug solution storage section within a predetermined range.

A method and an apparatus for characterizing a fluid provide for flowing a sample fluid through a microfluidic flow line in a first direction and into contact with a microfluidic sensor, measuring a property of the fluid sample using the microfluidic sensor; and after measuring the property of the fluid sample, flushing the microfluidic sensor by flowing a solvent through the microfluidic flow line in a second direction that is opposite the first direction.

A method and system for buoyant separation of a target constituent of a sample, the method comprising: at a process chamber, combining a volume of substrates having a first density with the sample, thereby producing a population of target-bound complexes comprising the target constituent bound to at least a portion of the volume of substrates; within the process chamber, physically separating the population of target-bound complexes from the sample based upon interaction between the volume of substrates and an applied force; aggregating the population of target-bound complexes at a collection region of the process chamber; extracting the population of target-bound complexes from the process chamber; and processing the target constituent from the population of target-bound complexes for further analysis.

An apparatus and method are provided for performing detection of microorganisms (e.g., viruses) with high sensitivity. The apparatus and method are well suited for point-of-care (POC) testing in resource-limited regions and are capable of being operated with very little manual intervention and without the need for lab equipment. A variety of viruses can be detected with high sensitivity, including, for example, coronaviruses, Zika virus and flu viruses.

A collection system configured to maintain the integrity of a bodily fluid sample has a proximal end portion, a distal end portion, and an inner surface defining a fluid flow path therethrough. The distal end portion is configured to be placed in fluid communication with a patient. The proximal end portion is configured to be placed in fluid communication with a fluid reservoir. The fluid flow path defined by the inner surface is associated with at least one flow characteristic configured to limit a stress within the flow of the bodily fluid between the distal end portion and the proximal end portion.

A fluidic valve for a sample separation apparatus for separating a fluid, wherein the fluidic valve comprises a stack of connected layer structures, a first conduit within the stack, a second conduit within the stack, a movable body within the stack, and an actuator configured for actuating the movable body to selectively bring the movable body into a flow enabling configuration in which flow of fluid between the first conduit and the second conduit is enabled, or into a flow disabling configuration in which flow of fluid between the first conduit and the second conduit is disabled.

A fluid dispenser comprising: a fluid reservoir (1); and a pump (3) comprising a pump body (30) and an actuator rod (34), defining between them a pump chamber (33) having a predetermined maximum volume, the rod (34) being axially movable in the body (30) so as to vary the volume of the pump chamber (33); the dispenser being characterized in that it further comprises a dispenser cannula (5) that is mounted on the actuator rod (34) and that includes a dispenser outlet (52) that is suitable for forming a drop of fluid that separates from the cannula (5) by gravity, the determined maximum volume of the pump chamber (33) being substantially equal to the volume of the drop of fluid that is dispensed at the dispenser outlet (52).