Methods and containers are provided for identifying a species, illustratively a bacterial species. Illustrative methods comprise amplifying various genes in the nucleic acid from the bacterial species in a single reaction mixture using pairs of outer first-stage primers designed to hybridize to generally conserved regions of the respective genes to generate a plurality of first-stage amplicons, dividing the reaction mixture into a plurality of second-stage reactions, each using a unique pair of second-stage primers, each pair of second-stage primers specific for a target bacterial species or subset of bacterial species, detecting which of the second-stage reactions amplified, and identifying the bacterial species based on second-stage amplification. Methods for determining antibiotic resistance are also provided, such methods also using first-stage primers for amplifying genes known to affect antibiotic resistance a plurality of the second-stage reactions wherein each pair of second-stage primers specific for a specific gene for conferring antibiotic resistance.

The invention provides systems and methods for rapid automated identification of microbes and antimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST) directly from a patient specimen, without specimen preparation. Specimens are loaded into an analytical cartridge for processing. Analytical cartridges are preloaded with species-specific labels that are used to identify and enumerate microbes in the specimen. Instruments, such as analyzers can be used to interact with analytical cartridges to carry out methods of the invention all within the cartridge.

Disclosed is a device for packaging balls for reaction vessels for an analysis appliance, including: a body including at least one opening and used to house balls, a closing member, that can be moved relative to the body between a closed position in which the closing member closes the opening of the body, and an open position in which the opening of the body is open so as to allow the balls to be dispensed from the body.

Described herein are apparatuses and methods for the processing and/or measurements of chemical or biochemical samples on a digital microfluidic device. Also described are methods to configure and operate the modules for efficient processing and measurements of the samples on the device. The apparatus can be used in applications such as DNA/RNA/protein/cell concentration/purification, real-time PCR, isothermal amplification, immunoassay, cell-based assay, library preparation for NGS sequencing, etc.

A microfluidic chip configuration wherein injection occurs in an upwards vertical direction, and fluid vessels are located below the chip in order to minimize particle settling before and at the analysis portion of the chip's channels. The input and fluid flow up through the bottom of the chip, in one aspect using a manifold, which avoids orthogonal re-orientation of fluid dynamics. The contents of the vial are located below the chip and pumped upwards and vertically directly into the first channel of the chip. A long channel extends from the bottom of the chip to near the top of the chip. Then the channel takes a short horizontal turn that nearly negates any influence of cell settling due to gravity and zero flow velocity at the walls. The fluid is pumped up to a horizontal analysis portion that is the highest channel/fluidic point in the chip and thus close to the top of the chip, which results in clearer imaging. A laser may also suspend cells or particles in this channel during analysis which prevents them from settling.

Provided is an integrated microfluidic device for SARS-CoV-2 detection. Also provided is a method for detecting SARS-CoV-2 by using the same, comprising viral lysis, RNA extraction, and reverse-transcription loop-mediated isothermal amplification (RT-LAMP). The integrated microfluidic device of the present disclosure is small in size, automatically operatable, and easy to use by ordinary people, and the present disclosure can achieve rapid detection with high sensitivity and specificity.

The present invention provides point-of-need diagnostic devices and kits for detecting a target nucleic acid sequence in a sample. Methods of using the point-of-need diagnostic devices or the kits disclosed are also provided.

A reaction vessel comprises a lower chamber with a first volume, and an upper chamber with a second volume greater than the first volume. A thermocycling system for heating the reaction vessel includes a lower heating zone to heat the lower chamber, an upper heating zone to heat the upper chamber, and a lid heater to heat an opening of the upper chamber. A method comprises loading a sample into a lower chamber of a reaction vessel, thermocycling the lower chamber using a lower heating zone of the thermo cycler, combining an additive into the sample to produce a combination filling the lower chamber and at least partially filling an upper chamber of the reaction vessel, and incubating the upper and lower chambers using the lower heating zone and an upper heating zone. The lower and upper chambers can have different wall thicknesses to facilitate heat transfer.

Provided are a gene detection kit and a gene detection device. The gene detection kit includes a kit body, a piston cylinder, and a piston. The kit body has an accommodating cavity and a plurality of reagent cavities. The piston cylinder is provided in the accommodating cavity, and the piston cylinder has a piston cavity. The piston is movably provided in the piston cavity along an axial direction of the piston cylinder. A first channel in communication with the piston cavity is provided on an outer circumferential surface of the piston cylinder, a plurality of second channels are provided on an inner wall of the accommodating cavity, each of the second channels is in corresponding communication with one of the reagent cavities, and the piston cylinder can move relative to the kit body, so that the plurality of second channels are alternately in communication with the first channel.

This present disclosure provides devices, systems, and methods for performing point-of-care analysis of a target analyte in a biological fluid via a binding assay. The present disclosure includes a cartridge for collecting the target analyte contained in a fluid sample and performing an assay. The cartridge includes an assay stack having a first separation layer, a second separation layer, and a detection membrane. The cartridge also includes a plurality of first complexes comprising a capture molecule and a magnetic bead and a plurality of second complexes comprising a detection molecule and a detection label. Further, the detection membrane includes a substrate that interacts with the detection label to elicit a quantifiable response in the presence of the target analyte. The quantifiable response corresponds to an amount of detection antibody present in the detection membrane, and the amount of detection antibody present corresponds to an amount of the target analyte present.