Disclosed are a substrate for a microfluidic device, a microfluidic device, a driving method of the microfluidic device, and a method of manufacturing a substrate for the microfluidic device. The substrate includes: a first base substrate; a first electrode layer on the first base substrate, the first electrode layer including a plurality of drive electrodes. The plurality of drive electrodes define at least one flow channel and at least one functional area in the first substrate, the at least one functional area includes a reagent area, the at least one flow channel includes a reagent area flow channel, the reagent area includes a reagent area liquid storage portion and a droplet shape changing portion, the droplet shape changing portion is adjacent to the reagent area flow channel, and the reagent liquid storage portion is on a side of the droplet shape changing portion away from the reagent area flow channel.

High-throughput digital microfluidic (DMF) systems and methods (including devices, systems, cartridges, DMF apparatuses, etc.), are described herein. The systems, apparatuses and methods integrate liquid handling with the DMF apparatuses, providing flexible and efficient sample reactions and sample preparation. These systems, apparatuses and methods may be used with a variety of cartridge configurations and sizes.

A microfluidic device includes a bottom electrode, a dielectric layer on the bottom electrode, one or more top electrodes on a region of the dielectric layer, Each of the one or more top electrodes has a sidewall that forms a sidewall angle with an outer surface of the dielectric layer that is less than 180 degrees. The sidewall of each of the one or more top electrodes and a portion of the outer surface of the dielectric layer adjacent to the sidewall define a microchannel region for transporting an open microchannel of a fluid. Such microfluidic devices may enable transport of small microchannels using low voltages.

The present disclosure relates to a microfluidic substrate, a microfluidic device and a driving method thereof. The microfluidic substrate includes a first area, the first area includes a first module for generating droplets, the first module includes a first electrode pair and a second electrode pair, and the first electrode pair and the second electrode pair are arranged in a crisscross pattern. The first electrode pair includes a first electrode and a second electrode, and the second electrode pair includes a third electrode and a fourth electrode.

The present disclosure provides a substrate for driving droplets, a manufacturing method thereof, and a microfluidic device. The substrate includes a first base substrate a plurality of leads on the first base substrate a plurality of driving electrodes on a side of the plurality of leads away from the first base substrate and a shielding electrode on the side of the plurality of leads away from the first base substrate and grounded. Each of the plurality of leads is electrically connected to at least one of the plurality of driving electrodes, an orthographic projection of the shielding electrode on the first base substrate and an orthographic projection of at least one of the plurality of leads on the first base substrate at least partially overlap, and the shielding electrode is electrically insulated from the plurality of driving electrodes.

Methods are provided for separating magnetically responsive beads from a droplet in a droplet actuator. Droplet operations electrodes and a magnet are arranged in a droplet actuator to manipulate a bead-containing droplet and position it relative to a magnetic field region that attracts the magnetically responsive beads. The droplet operations electrodes are operated to control the droplet shape and transport it away from the magnetic field region to form a concentration of beads in the droplet. The continued transport of the droplet away from the magnetic field causes the concentration of beads to break away from the droplet to yield a small, concentrated bead-containing droplet immobilized by the magnet.

A microfluidic system and related methods of operating an electrowetting on dielectric (EWOD) device operate to concentrate particles within a liquid droplet dispensed onto an element array of the EWOD device. The method includes the steps of providing a non-polar liquid onto the element array of the EWOD device; providing a polar liquid droplet onto the element array of the EWOD device within the non-polar liquid, wherein the polar liquid droplet includes particles; and applying an actuation cycle comprising a plurality of actuation patterns, wherein at least one of the actuation patterns includes actuating one or more array element electrodes within a perimeter of the polar liquid droplet, and the particles migrate within the polar liquid droplet to become concentrated within a portion of the liquid droplet at one or more array element electrodes corresponding to one of the plurality of actuation patterns.

A microfluidic device comprises upper and lower spaced apart substrates defining a fluid chamber therebetween; an aperture for introducing fluid into the fluid chamber; a plurality of independently addressable array elements, each array element defining a respective region of the fluid chamber; and control means for addressing the array elements. The control means are configured to: determine that a working fluid has been introduced into a first region of the fluid chamber; and provide an output to a user to indicate that the working fluid is present in the first region. Once the working fluid is in the first region, the fluid applicator used to dispense the fluid can be removed without any risk of accidentally withdrawing dispensed working fluid from the microfluidic device. In the case of manual loading of the working fluid the output may inform a user that it is safe to remove the applicator, or in the case of automatic or robotic loading the output signal may be provided to the system controlling the automatic or robotic loading of fluid so that the system can remove the fluid applicator.

Provided is a digital microfluidic device for quick polymerase chain reaction. The digital microfluidic device includes an enclosed chamber for holding droplets comprising PCR mixtures. The chamber has an upper layer and a lower layer, which provide a top heater and a bottom heater contained in a thermal electrode respectively to form dual heaters. The lower layer further has an array of electrodes and a dielectric layer, e.g. Norland Optical adhesive 61, coating thereon. Such arrangement of the digital microfluidic device allows quick and homogeneous heating of droplets to lower the heating voltage, shorten the reaction time, and prevent the dielectric layer from breakdown during the thermal cycle.

The present invention discloses a microstructured discrimination device for separating hydrophobic-hydrophilic fluidic composites comprising particulate and/or fluids in a fluid flow. The discrimination is the result of surface energy gradients obtained by physically varying a textured surface and/or by varying surface chemical properties, both of which are spatially graded. Such surfaces discriminate and spatially separate particulate and/or fluids without external energy input. The device of the present invention comprises a platform having bifurcating microchannels arranged radially. The lumenal surfaces of the microchannels may have a surface energy gradient created by varying the periodicity of hierarchically arranged microstructures along a dimension. The surface energy gradient is varied in two regions. In one pre-bifurcation region the surface energy gradient generates a fluid flow. In the other post-bifurcation region, there is a difference in surface energy proximal to the bifurcation such that different flow fractions are divided into separate channels in response to different surface energy gradients in each of the post-bifurcation channels. Accordingly, fluids of different hydrophobicity and/or particulate of different hydrophobicity are driven into separate channels by a global minimization of the fluid system energy.