A microfluidic system and method for the recovery of particles; the system comprises at least one standing chamber, at least one outlet, at least one inlet and a moving assembly, which is adapted to move the particles; a fluid is fed from the inlet to the outlet so as to generate a substantially continuous flow of the fluid; a given particle of a group of particles arranged in the collecting chamber is moved selectively with respect to the other particles of the assembly to a release area, in which a dragging force created by the fluid flow is such as to move the particle towards the outlet.

The present disclosure relates to the field of digital microfluidics, and provides a microfluidic particle comprising a charged droplet, an intermediate cladding layer, and a dielectric surface layer. The intermediate cladding layer is hydrophobic and coated outside the charged liquid droplet. The dielectric surface layer is hydrophilic and is coated outside the intermediate cladding layer. A microfluidic system is also provided, where the microfluidic system comprises a digital microfluidic chip and the microfluidic particle is disposed above the digital microfluidic chip.

Apparatus (20) for use with a biological sample, including at least one viable sperm cell (12) having a tail (8) and a head (6), comprising: a fluid chamber (40) shaped and sized for receiving the biological sample, and at least one electrode (80) coupled to the chamber and in operable communication with an electric source for applying alternating current (AC) to drive the at least one electrode (80) to generate a dielectrophoresis (DEP) force in the chamber. In response to the DEP force: (i) the tail of the at least one viable sperm cell is attracted to the electrode and pulled into proximity to the electrode, and simultaneously (ii) the head is repelled and distanced from the electrode such that a proximity of the tail to an edge of the electrode is greater than a proximity of the head to the edge of the electrode. Other applications are also described.

System for storing and dispensing liquid in a digital microfluidic chip includes a plurality of reservoir electrodes defining a reservoir having an outlet and a first end opposite the outlet, the reservoir configured to be in fluidic communication with at least one device electrode proximate the outlet, the at least one device electrode and at least one of the plurality of reservoir electrodes configured to generate electrical actuation forces to dispense at least one droplet from the reservoir through the outlet. The plurality of reservoir electrodes include a first reservoir electrode proximate the first end, a reservoir outlet electrode proximate the outlet, and at least one intermediate reservoir electrode disposed between the first electrode and the reservoir outlet electrode. The first reservoir electrode, the reservoir outlet electrode, and the at least one intermediate reservoir electrode each has an electrode surface area in plan view greater than or equal to an electrode surface area of each of the at least one device electrodes.

Digital microfluidic device includes a first substrate and a second substrate aligned generally parallel to each other with a gap defined therebetween in side view. At least one of the first substrate and the second substrate include a first electrode array, a second electrode array spaced from and in electrical communication with the first electrode array, and a first interstitial area defined between the first electrode array and the second electrode array. At least one of the first electrode array and the second electrode array is configured to generate electrical actuation forces within an actuation area to urge at least one droplet within the gap along the at least one of the first substrate and the second substrate. At least one spacer is disposed in the first interstitial area to maintain the gap between the first substrate and the second substrate.

A sensor device is provided. The sensor device includes a first substrate, a second substrate, a flow channel and a first reaction group. The second substrate is disposed opposite the first substrate. The flow channel is disposed between the first substrate and the second substrate, and the flow channel includes a fluidic boundary. The first reaction group is disposed on the first substrate and includes a first reaction site, a second reaction site and a third reaction site. The first reaction site is closer to the fluidic boundary than the second reaction site, and a size of the first reaction site is greater than or equal to a size of the second reaction site. The second reaction site is closer to the fluidic boundary than the third reaction site, and the size of the second reaction site is greater than a size of the third reaction site.

Sub-micrometer bioparticles are separated by size in a microfluidic channel utilizing a ratchet migration mechanism. A structure within the microfluidic channel includes an array of micro-posts arranged in laterally shifted rows. Reservoirs are disposed at each end of the microfluidic channel. A biased AC potential is applied across the channel via electrodes immersed into fluid in each of the reservoirs to induce a non-uniform electric field through the microfluidic channel. The applied potential comprises a first waveform with a first frequency that induces electro-kinetic flow of sub-micrometer bioparticles in the microfluidic channel, and an intermittent superimposed second waveform with a higher frequency. The second waveform selectively induces a dielectrophoretic trapping force to selectively impart ratchet migration based on particle size for separating the sub-micrometer bioparticles by size in the microfluidic channel.

A microfluidics device includes an inlet, a plurality of parallelized microfluidic channels, a splitter and a plurality of detection electrodes. The inlet receives a fluidic sample including biological particles. The parallelized microfluidic channels include interaction zones for analysis of the biological particles. The splitter transmits the fluidic sample into the parallelized microfluidic channels. Detection electrodes can conduct the analysis. Each detection electrode is shared among the parallelized microfluidic channels. The detection electrodes are spatially encoded electrodes arranged on locations of each of the parallelized microfluidic channels.

Methods and apparatus for detecting, quantifying, enriching, and/or separating bacterial species in fluid sample are provided. The fluid sample is provided as input to a microfluidic passage of a microfluidic device, wherein the microfluidic device comprises at least one electrode disposed adjacent to the microfluidic passage. The at least one electrode is activated to capture bacteria in the sample using dielectrophoresis, wherein the capture efficiency of bacteria is at least 99%.

Methods and apparatus for detecting, quantifying, enriching, and/or separating bacterial species in fluid sample are provided. The fluid sample is provided as input to a microfluidic passage of a microfluidic device, wherein the microfluidic device comprises at least one electrode disposed adjacent to the microfluidic passage. The at least one electrode is activated to capture bacteria in the sample using dielectrophoresis, wherein the capture efficiency of bacteria is at least 99%.