A microfluidic device and a detection method for the microfluidic device are provided. The microfluidic device includes a driving substrate configured to drive a movement of a droplet; and a position detector configured to detect a position of the droplet on the driving substrate.

A method is provided for manipulating objects in a cavity including a liquid, the method including providing in at least one region of the cavity objects capable of absorbing light in a given wavelength range, forming an aggregate of the objects by submitting them to an acoustic field, and disrupting the aggregate by submitting the aggregate to a light beam emitting at the given wavelength range. Also provided is a device for manipulating objects.

The invention comprises an applied force-optic analyzer used to determine a sample constituent concentration, a physical measure of the sample, and/or a state of the sample. The analyzer comprises: an electro-mechanical transducer affixed to skin of a subject; a controller, the controller providing a voltage waveform to the electro-mechanical transducer driving displacement of the skin and inducing a pressure wave into the skin; and a spectrometer interfaced to a sample site of the skin, the spectrometer comprising a set of sources and a set of detectors, where the controller is configured to collect signal from the set of detectors as a function of timing of the voltage waveform and apply a calibration model to the signal to determine the analyte concentration.

A chemical, biochemical or biological analysis system and method including: a surface acoustic wave (SAW) actuator (6) including a piezoelectric substrate (9) and at least one interdigital electrode (17) located on a working surface (11) of the piezoelectric substrate (9), the SAW actuator generating travelling SAWs in the working surface when an electrical signal is applied to the interdigital electrode; at least one reaction chamber (19) located on the working surface of the piezoelectric substrate; a light detector (16) for detecting luminescent, fluorescent or phosphorescent emissions within the reaction chamber; a reagent flow line (29) for providing a flow of reagent through the reaction chamber; a test sample supply line (29) for supplying a test sample to the reaction chamber; wherein the SAW actuator can generate travelling SAWs within the working surface to thereby induce chaotic micromixing, convective transport, concentration or combinations thereof of the test sample and the reagent contained within the reaction chamber.

The invention is a method for characterizing a liquid sample, said liquid sample containing particles, the method comprising the following steps: a) illuminating said sample using a light source that is able to emit an incident light wave towards the sample; b) detecting, using a photodetector, a light wave transmitted by the sample thus illuminated; c) characterizing the sample depending on an intensity of the light wave detected by the photodetector.

The method comprises, prior to step c), applying an acoustic wave to the sample, said acoustic wave forming pressure nodes and pressure antinodes in the sample, so as to separate, in the latter, a poor portion, poor in particles, and rich portion, rich in particles, such that, in step c), the sample is characterized: either on the basis of the intensity of the light wave transmitted by the poor portion; or on the basis of the intensity of the light wave transmitted by the rich portion.

The invention relates to an inspection station for crimped sheet material. The station comprises a light source to illuminate crimped sheet material in an inspection location, a vibrating device to vibrate crimped sheet material in the inspection location. The vibrating device comprises a vibrating element, wherein crimped sheet material is guidable along or over the vibrating element for the crimped sheet material to be vibrated by the vibrating element. The inspection station further comprises a detector for detecting light received from the vibrated crimped sheet material, thereby providing images of the crimped sheet material, and a controller to determine loose material on the crimped surface of the sheet material. The invention also relates to an inspection method and an apparatus comprising an inspection station.

A microfluidic device and a detection method for the microfluidic device are provided. The microfluidic device includes a driving substrate configured to drive a movement of a droplet; and a position detector configured to detect a position of the droplet on the driving substrate.

A blood testing device for detecting hemolysis in a blood sample is described. The blood testing device comprises an housing for containing the blood sample. The housing has a treatment window and an optical zone formed therein. The blood testing device further includes an acoustic transducer positioned to selectively generate acoustic forces directed into the treatment window of the housing and a control unit for selectively actuating and deactuating the acoustic transducer to permit colorimetric analysis of plasma within the blood sample.

The disclosed apparatus, systems and methods relate to ATPA technology that provides a method for the real-time assessment of the polymerization of a sample, e.g., whole blood or blood plasma coagulation, by a non-contact acoustic tweezing device. The acoustic tweezing technology integrates photo-optical tests used in plasma coagulation assays with mechanical (viscoelastic) tests used in whole blood analysis. Its key disruptive features are the increased reliability and accuracy due to non-contact measurement, low sample volume requirement, relatively short procedure time (less than 10 minutes), and the ability to assess the level of Factor XIII function from measurements of the fibrin network formation time.

A monitoring device of biological cells including: a fluidic channel in which a fluid including biological cells is made to flow, including a first and second glass walls placed in parallel and a reflective surface adjoined to the second wall; and a piezoelectric transducer, the piezoelectric transducer emitting acoustic waves creating a force acting on the biological cells, making them flow substantially along a single motion plane. The external interface between the first wall and the exterior of the fluidic channel and the reflective surface are configured to function as a Fabry-Perot interferometer, such that the motion planes sensibly perpendicular to the optical axis of the Fabry-Perot interferometer. The finesse of the interferometer is lower than 10. The monitoring device further includes a detecting unit detecting a fringe pattern stemming from the Fabry-Perot interferometer and an analysing device, analysing the fringe pattern and configured to output data on physical properties of the cells based on the pattern.