Described herein are methods inducing the uptake of an agent by a cell. Aspects of the invention relate to physically compressing the cell to induce perturbations (e.g., holes) in the cell membrane or wall. An agent is taken up by the cell through induced perturbations.

Methods include treating a portion of a sample composition to be tested for presence of an analyte by depleting or blocking the target analyte. The treated composition may be used to equilibrate an acoustic wave sensor prior to exposing the sensor to the untreated sample composition for analysis. By using the treated sample composition, in which the analyte is depleted or blocked, to equilibrate the sensor, the sensor may be equilibrated with a composition having a similar viscosity and non-specific binding characteristics to the untreated sample composition, which should result in improved accuracy when analyzing the analyte in the untreated sample composition.

A system and/or method for determining an immune activation state of a subject can include: deforming leukocytes within a microfluidic channel, acquiring a plurality of images of the leukocytes, determining biophysical parameters of the leukocyte, adjusting the biophysical parameters, and determining the immune activation state of the subject based on the biophysical parameters.

Methods, devices, and systems for performing isoelectric focusing reactions are described. The systems or devices disclosed herein may comprise fixtures that have a membrane. In some instances, the disclosed devices may be designed to perform isoelectric focusing or other separation reactions followed by further characterization of the separated analytes using mass spectrometry. Two or more isoelectric focusing reactions may be performed in parallel. The disclosed methods, devices, and systems provide for fast, accurate separation and characterization of protein analyte mixtures or other biological molecules by isoelectric point.

The present disclosure relates to fluidic systems and devices for processing, extracting, or purifying one or more analytes. These systems and devices can be used for processing samples and extracting nucleic acids, for example by isotachophoresis. In particular, the systems and related methods can allow for extraction of nucleic acids, including non-crosslinked nucleic acids, from samples such as tissue or cells. The systems and devices can also be used for multiplex parallel sample processing.

In one embodiment, the present invention includes a system for detecting a target analyte which includes a microfluidic device having least one microfluidic channel with a binding surface positioned in the microfluidic channel with further include a first electrode and a second electrode. The system may further include a detector and a voltage supply. Also included is a method to detect a target analyte using a described microfluidics device, introducing solution with a target analyte to a binding surface, and binding the target analyte to the binding surface by applying an electrical potential between the first and second electrodes during at least a portion of the binding step, which enhances the rate of binding of the target analyte molecules to the binding molecules. The method then includes the steps of detecting a reporter molecule which corresponds to the amount of the bound target analyte molecules, which correlates with the amount of target analyte in the original sample. The method may also include multiple applications of sample to the binding surface prior to the detection step.

A microfluidic chip having a micro channel for processing a sample is provided. The micro channel may focus the sample by using focusing fluid and a core stream forming geometry. The core stream forming geometry may include a lateral fluid focusing component and one or more vertical fluid focusing components. A microfluidic chip may include a plurality micro channels operating in parallel on a microfluidic chip.

A single junction sorter for a microfluidic particle sorter, the single-junction sorter comprising: an input channel, configured to receive a fluid containing particles; an output sort channel and an output waste channel, each connected to the input channel for receiving the fluid therefrom; a bubble generator, operable to selectively displace the fluid around a particle to be sorted and thereby to create a transient flow of the fluid in the input channel; and a vortex element, configured to cause a vortex in the transient flow in order to direct the particle to be sorted into the output sort channel.

An apparatus for assaying biofluid includes a receptacle for removably housing a set of cuvettes of a biofluid sample dispensing apparatus, each cuvette of the set of cuvettes containing an assay sample having a reagent and a sample of the biofluid; a receptacle sealing element disposed around the receptacle for providing sealing engagement between the receptacle and the biofluid sample dispensing apparatus for sealing the set of cuvettes within the receptacle; a vacuum source for evacuating the receptacle; and an automated assay system connected to the receptacle for performing an assay process on the assay samples in the set of cuvettes, while maintaining the set of cuvettes within the receptacle.

Extracting and concentrating particles from a first fluid sample includes: providing the first fluid sample to a fluid exchange module of a microfluidic device, providing a second fluid sample to the fluid exchange module, in which the first fluid sample and the second fluid sample are provided under conditions such that particle-free portions of the first fluid sample are shifted, and an inertial lift force causes the particles in the first fluid sample to cross streamlines and transfer into the second fluid sample; passing the second fluid sample containing the transferred particles to a particle concentration module under conditions such that particle-free portions of the second fluid sample are shifted, and such that the particles within the second fluid sample are focused to a streamline within the particle concentration module.