A nozzle plate of a fluid ejection head for a fluid ejection device, a fluid ejection head containing the nozzle plate, and a method for making the fluid ejection head containing the nozzle plate. The nozzle plate contains two or more arrays of nozzle holes therein and a barrier structure disposed on an exposed surface of the nozzle plate between adjacent arrays of nozzle holes, wherein the barrier structure deters cross-contamination of fluids between the adjacent arrays of nozzle holes.

This invention relates to methods, systems, and computer program products for verifying dispensing of a fluid from a pipette.

The present disclosure provides a microfluidic chip and a droplet separation method, and belongs to the field of biological chip technology. The microfluidic chip includes a first liquid tank and a second liquid tank opposite to each other and a channel layer therebetween. The channel layer includes a plurality of microfluidic channels separated from each other, first ends of the microfluidic channels are communicated with the first liquid tank, and second ends are communicated with the second liquid tank. The first liquid tank contains sample solution to be detected, and the second liquid tank contains encapsulating liquid. The sample solution to be detected entering the first liquid tank may be separated into a plurality of sample droplets through the microfluidic channels, the separated sample droplets enter the second liquid tank, so that the encapsulating liquid is encapsulated on a surface of each of the plurality of sample droplets.

An integrated fluid ejection and spectroscopic sensing system may include a fluid ejector to eject a droplet of fluid through an ejection orifice towards a deposition site, a sensor array, a dispersive element to project light onto the sensor array. The dispersive element, the sensor and the fluid ejector are joined as part of an integrated unit.

The present disclosure is related to a method of producing a microfluidic sorting apparatus. The method includes providing an injection-molded substrate comprising a network of channels; bonding an insulating film to an upper surface of the substrate to cover the network of channels; and depositing a conductive film on the insulating film. The substrate can be separated from the conductive film.

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.

A pipetting apparatus and method for pulsed dispensing of small metered-liquid doses of no more than 1 μl. The apparatus includes a pipetting conduit at least partly filled with working gas, a pressure-modifying apparatus for modifying the pressure of the working gas, and a control apparatus for applying control to the pressure-modifying apparatus. The control apparatus can control the pressure-modifying apparatus so as to generate in the pipetting conduit, with respect to a reference holding pressure in the pipetting conduit which is necessary for immovable holding of the metered-liquid quantity, an overpressure pulse having a pulse duration of no more than 40 ms.

The present disclosure provides better aspiration and dispensing by a common innovative mechanism by (i) offsetting the diameter of a bottom piston (tube) with a slightly narrower top piston (rod) when the two are swept together by O-rings to give extremely fine resolution, thereby eliminating the need for any filamentous piston and sealing means, (ii) letting the bottom tube be swept alone without offset to give high flow (iii) using a tapered top rod with thick-walled compliant O-ring seals to increase the resolution multiplier another order or magnitude, (iv) an at-the-ready interpiston space for contact-free blowoff, including viscous samples, (v) dead space filler mandrels and an integrated small valve to reduce or eliminate interpiston and disposable tip space prior to aspiration, and (vi) a mechanism for storing energy during disposable tip pickup to shoot dispensed samples contact-free down into long tubes.

A cartridge includes: a first reservoir capable of accommodating a sample liquid; a sheath liquid conduit; a sterilization filter; a mixer; a nozzle; a droplet collection member; and a check valve. The sterilization filter is provided at the sheath liquid conduit. The check valve is connected to a waste-droplet collection member. A sample liquid flow path and a sheath liquid flow path are isolated from a surrounding environment around the cartridge and are maintained in a sterile state. The sample liquid flow path extends from the first reservoir to the droplet collection member. The sheath liquid flow path extends from the sterilization filter to the droplet collection member.

The present disclosure provides better aspiration and dispensing of liquids by an innovative mechanism by (i) offsetting the diameter of a bottom tube with a narrower and tapered top piston when the two are moved together in the same chamber to give extremely fine resolution, thereby eliminating the need for any skinny or filamentous piston, (ii) using thick walled compliant O-rings to seal against the different diameters of the tapered piston to given an additional order of magnitude range of resolution, (iii) letting the bottom tube move in the chamber alone without offset to give high Row, and (iv) an at-the-ready space between the tube and piston in the chamber to permit contact-free blowoff, including viscous samples.