Provided herein are devices and methods for generating positive and negative pressures. The devices and methods are suited for the generation of pressures; in particular, the pressures generated can be useful for controlling the flow of fluids, such as in fluidic device.

A thermal cycling device comprising a number of fixed thermal zones and a fixed conduit passing through the thermal zones. A controller maintains each thermal zone including its section of conduit at a constant temperature. A series of droplets flows through the conduit so that each droplet is thermally cycled, and a detection system detects fluorescence from droplets at all of the thermal cycles. The conduit is in a single plane, and so a number of thermal cycling devices may be arranged together to achieve parallelism. The flow conduit comprises a channel and a capillary tube inserted into the channel. The detection system may perform scans along a direction to detect radiation from a plurality of cycles in a pass.

The present invention discloses a method for fusing or contacting reactor and reagent droplets in a three-phase microfluidic or millifluidic system with one of the phases being continuous, in which the reagent droplet is injected in the droplet train before it coalesces or contacts with the reactor droplet. More specifically, the reagent droplet detaches from the reagent inlet before being in contact with the reactor droplet. The method of the invention involves two successive but not concomitant steps: first producing in the droplet train a droplet of a reagent which breaks-up from the reagent reservoir before the second step of merging. The invention also discloses a milli/microfluidic device whose equivalent circuit is represented on FIG. 11.

A fluid propelling apparatus, including a plastic compound, a MEMS at least partially surrounded by the compound, and a heat sink next to the MEMS, to transfer heat away from the MEMS, wherein the heat sink is at least partly surrounded by the compound.

Provided are methods and systems useful for screening large libraries of effector molecules. Such methods and systems are particularly useful in microfluidic systems and devices. The methods and systems provided herein utilize encoded effectors to screen large libraries of effectors.

A laser microdissectate specimen collector for a laser microdissection device includes a collecting chamber configured to receive a dissectate. The collecting chamber has, on a specimen side, an opening open to the environment for receiving the dissectate. The collecting chamber also has a first valve. The first valve, in a closed state thereof, forms a closure of the collecting chamber opposite to the opening for retaining the dissectate. A capillary line is connected downstream of the first valve to the collecting chamber such that the capillary line is configured to transport the dissectate out of the collecting chamber.

Provided herein are microfluidic circuits that include at least one device for forming a quantity of drops of a solution in a carrier fluid and at least one storage zone for storing drops produced by the microfluidic device. Such microfluidic circuits are useful, for example, for the analysis of a solution containing a biological sample.

During droplet operations in a droplet actuator, bubbles often form in the filler fluid in the droplet operations gap and interrupt droplet operations. The present invention provides methods and systems for performing droplet operations on a droplet in a droplet actuator comprising maintaining substantially consistent contact between the droplet and an electrical ground while conducting multiple droplet operations on the droplet in the droplet operations gap and/or reducing the accumulation of electrical charges in the droplet operations gap during multiple droplet operations. The methods and systems reduce or eliminate bubble formation in the filler fluid of the droplet operations gap, thereby permitting completion of multiple droplet operations without interruption by bubble formation in the filler fluid in the droplet operations gap.

An apparatus for generating one or several droplets of a first liquid in a second liquid immiscible with the first liquid includes a rotational body and a drive apparatus. The rotational body includes a fluid chamber, a fluid channel and a transition area. The transition area includes a first expansion area and a second expansion area. The drive apparatus is configured to provide the rotational body with such a rotation that the first liquid is supplied centrifugally to the fluid chamber and that centrifugally hydrodynamically induced pressure and lifting forces are caused due to the second expansion area, which cause a droplet break-off in the first liquid, such that a droplet of the first liquid embedded in the second liquid is generated.

Provided are methods and devices for the detection of bacteriophages.