2927results about "Mixers" patented technology

The present invention provides novel microfluidic substrates and methods that are useful for performing biological, chemical and diagnostic assays. The substrates can include a plurality of electrically addressable, channel bearing fluidic modules integrally arranged such that a continuous channel is provided for flow of immiscible fluids.

The present invention provides novel microfluidic devices and methods that are useful for performing high-throughput screening assays and combinatorial chemistry. Such methods can include labeling a library of compounds by emulsifying aqueous solutions of the compounds and aqueous solutions of unique liquid labels on a microfluidic device, which includes a plurality of electrically addressable, channel bearing fluidic modules integrally arranged on a microfabricated substrate such that a continuous channel is provided for flow of immiscible fluids, whereby each compound is labeled with a unique liquid label, pooling the labeled emulsions, coalescing the labeled emulsions with emulsions containing a specific cell or enzyme, thereby forming a nanoreactor, screening the nanoreactors for a desirable reaction between the contents of the nanoreactor, and decoding the liquid label, thereby identifying a single compound from a library of compounds.

The present invention generally relates to systems and methods of forming particles and, in certain aspects, to systems and methods of forming particles that are substantially monodisperse. Microfluidic systems and techniques for forming such particles are provided, for instance, particles may be formed using gellation, solidification, and/or chemical reactions such as cross-linking, polymerization, and/or interfacial polymerization reactions. In one aspect, the present invention is directed to a plurality of particles having an average dimension of less than about 500 micrometers and a distribution of dimensions such that no more than about 5% of the particles have a dimension greater than about 10% of the average dimension, which can be made via microfluidic systems. In one set of embodiments, at least some of the particles may comprise a metal, and in certain embodiments, at least some of the particles may comprise a magnetizable material. In another set of embodiments, at least some of the particles may be porous. In some embodiments, the invention includes non-spherical particles. Non-spherical particles may be formed, for example, by urging a fluidic droplet into a channel having a smallest dimension that is smaller than the diameter of a perfect mathematical sphere having a volume of the droplet, and solidifying the droplet, and/or by exposing at least a portion of a plurality of particles to an agent able to remove at least a portion of the particles.

The present invention provides microfluidic technology enabling rapid and economical manipulation of reactions on the femtoliter to microliter scale.

System, including methods, apparatus, compositions, and kits, for the mixing of small volumes of fluid by coalescence of multiple emulsions.

Provided is a liquid transfer device which controls electrically liquid position. The surface of the liquid transfer device is provided with unevenness in order to solve a problem of having a large number of electrodes for controlling voltage. The number of electrodes for controlling voltage can be halved by utilization of restoring force of liquid to a spherical shape by surface tension, in addition to electrical force.

The present invention relates to filler fluids for droplet operations. According to one embodiment of this aspect, a droplet microactuator is provided and includes: (a) a first substrate comprising electrodes configured for conducting droplet operations on a surface of the substrate; (b) a second substrate spaced from the surface of the substrate by a distance sufficient to define an interior volume between the first substrate and second substrate, wherein the distance is sufficient to contain a droplet disposed in the space on the first substrate; and (c) a droplet arranged in the interior volume and arranged with respect to the electrodes in a manner which permits droplet operations to be effected on the droplet using the electrodes.

A variety of elastomeric-based microfluidic devices and methods for using and manufacturing such devices are provided. Certain of the devices have arrays of reaction sites to facilitate high throughput analyses. Some devices also include reaction sites located at the end of blind channels at which reagents have been previously deposited during manufacture. The reagents become suspended once sample is introduced into the reaction site. The devices can be utilized with a variety of heating devices and thus can be used in a variety of analyses requiring temperature control, including thermocycling applications such as nucleic acid amplification reactions, genotyping and gene expression analyses.

Provided are microfluidic designs and methods for rapid generation of monodisperse nanoliter volume droplets of reagent/target (e.g., molecule or cell) mix in emulsion oil. The designs and methods enable high-throughput encapsulation of a single target (e.g., DNA/RNA molecules or cells) in controlled size droplets of reagent mix. According to various embodiments, a microfabricated, 3-valve pump is used to precisely meter the volume of reagent/target mix in each droplet and also to effectively route microparticles such as beads and cells into the device, which are encapsulated within droplets at the intersection of the reagent channel and an oil channel. The pulsatile flow profile of the microfabricated pumps provides active control over droplet generation, thereby enabling droplet formation with oils that are compatible with biological reactions but are otherwise difficult to form emulsions with.

A liquid raw material is heated to its boiling point or higher at a vaporizer to mix the vaporized ingredient gas and a carrier gas at a mixer at predetermined concentrations. The flow of the mixed gas is adjusted while the mixed gas is heated to over its condensing point and the temperature thereof is kept. Subsequently, the mixed gas is fed to a reactor for epitaxial growth while the mixed gas is heated to over its condensing point and the temperature thereof is kept. When the temperature of a heating medium is kept constant at the vaporizer to vaporize the liquid raw material and the feeding amount of the liquid into the vaporizer is adjusted by the pressure of the gas inside the vaporizer, the liquid surface level can be controlled to be constant.

The present invention is generally related to systems and methods for producing droplets. The droplets may contain varying species, e.g., for use as a library. In some cases, at least one droplet is used to create a plurality of droplets, using techniques such as flow-focusing techniques. In one set of embodiments, a plurality of droplets, containing varying species, can be divided to form a collection of droplets containing the various species therein. A collection of droplets, according to certain embodiments, may contain various subpopulations of droplets that all contain the same species therein. Such a collection of droplets may be used as a library in some cases, or may be used for other purposes.

A microfluidic device comprises first and second inlet passages (13) for respective immiscible fluids, these inlet passages merging into a third passage (8) along which the two fluids flow under parallel laminar flow conditions, the third passage being formed with a constriction or other discontinuity (9) causing the two fluids to form into a flow of alternate segments.

The invention provides a simple method, device and several machines for simultaneously stirring thousands of vessels or wells of microplates in a robust manner and with economy. This method uses the simple principle of magnetic stirrers aligning themselves to a vertical driving magnetic field placed beneath them and moving laterally or by moving the vessels over a stationary magnetic field or by spinning the drive magnets, or by using a modulating/reversing electromagnetic field to produce the moving effect. Each vessel contains a magnetic disc, bar, dowel or other shape (stirrers) which in it's magnetic attraction to the vertical driving magnetic field will cause it to move and align it's magnetic field as the opposite poles of the drive magnet and the stirrer attract each other. The attraction of the stirrers to the vertical driving magnetic field causes the stirrers to stand on end and tumble as the stir devices try to align to the opposite moving magnetic pole. The stirrers tumble because the walls of the vessels or friction with the vessel bottom prevents their lateral movement.

A pipettor device and pipette tip for aspirating, mixing, manipulating and dispensing nano-volumes of fluid comprising a directed gas flow along the exterior tip surface to assist in dispensing the liquid.

The present invention provides a bio memory disc where a lab-on-a-chip process system including an assay-diagnosis unit, a nucleic acid hybridization assay unit, or an immuno-assay unit and a semiconductor memory is disposed, a bio memory disc drive apparatus including a controller for controlling and driving an optical disc including CD or DVD and the bio memory disc and an assay method using the same.

The movement and mixing of microdroplets through microchannels is described employing silicon-based microscale devices, comprising microdroplet transport channels, reaction regions, electrophoresis modules, and radiation detectors. The discrete droplets are differentially heated and propelled through etched channels. Electronic components are fabricated on the same substrate material, allowing sensors and controlling circuitry to be incorporated in the same device.

The invention provides a solid-liquid mixing device which is used for mixing a fracturing fluid. The solid-liquid mixing device contains a low-temperature and pressure resistant enclosed mixing container, a solid introducing port which is arranged on the mixing container and used for introducing solid particles of the fracturing fluid into an inner chamber of the mixing container, a liquid introducing port which is disposed on the mixing container and used for introducing a base solution of the fracturing fluid into the inner chamber, and a solid-liquid outlet which is arranged on the mixing container and used for exporting the fracturing fluid out of the inner chamber. According to the solid-liquid mixing device provided by the invention, by the adoption of the low-temperature and pressure resistant enclosed mixing container, the solid-liquid mixing device can meet mixing requirements for low temperature under pressure; and as the mixing container is respectively provided with the solid introducing port, the liquid introducing port and the solid-liquid outlet, the process of putting the solid particles and the base solution into the mixing container and the process of exporting the fracturing fluid out of the mixing container will not interfere with each other, and mixing of the fracturing fluid can be continuously carried out.

Integrated systems, apparatus, software, and methods for performing biochemical analysis, including DNA sequencing, genomic screening, purification of nucleic acids and other biological components and drug screening are provided. Microfluidic devices, systems and methods for using these devices and systems for performing a wide variety of fluid operations are provided. The devices and systems of are used in performing fluid operations which require a large number of iterative, successive or parallel fluid manipulations, in a microscale, or sealed and readily automated format.

The invention provides a blending system of a fracturing fluid. The blending system comprises a suction pump, a mixer, a mixing tank, a secondary mixer which is arranged between the mixer and the nixing tank and is used for mixing the fracturing fluid again, and a parallel-connection water channel, wherein one end of the parallel-connection water channel is communicated with the suction pump, the parallel-connection water channel and a mixing water channel of the mixer are connected in parallel, and the other end of the parallel-connection water channel is communicated with the secondary mixer. The blending system provided by the invention has the advantages that the parallel water channel is additionally arranged and is connected with the mixing water channel in parallel, a base solution is capable of simultaneously entering two routes, namely the mixing water channel and the parallel-connection water channel, not all of the base solution enters the mixing water channel, a condition that the limitation on blending efficiency is caused by the relatively small flow of the mixing water channel is avoided, the blending time is shortened, the blending energy consumption is reduced, the fracturing fluid is formed through multi-time blending in a double-route manner, the mixing uniformity is improved, and the quality of the fracturing fluid is further optimized. The invention also provides a fracturing fluid blending technology suitable for the blending system of the fracturing fluid.

Methods and systems that employ hybrid fluid flow profiles for optimized movement of materials through channel networks. These systems employ hybrid pressure-based and electrokinetic based flow systems for moving materials through interconnected channel networks while maintaining interconnection among the various channel segments. In particular, the invention is generally directed to channel networks where flow in a first channel segment is driven by pressure flow with its consequent parabolic flow profile, while flow in an interconnected channel segment is dominated by electrokinetic flow with its consequent plug flow profile. The invention also provides channel networks wherein fluid flow in channel segments is driven by both pressure and electric field and the multiple species contained in a fluid plug are separated (and can be concentrated) by altering the applied pressure and electric fields in the various channel segments of the channel networks.

The present invention relates to surface assisted fluid loading and droplet dispensing on a droplet micro actuator. A droplet actuator is provided and includes one or more electrodes configured for conducting one or more droplet operations on a droplet operations surface of the substrate. The droplet actuator further includes a wettable surface defining a path from a fluid reservoir into a locus which is sufficiently near to one or more of the electrodes that activation of the one or more electrodes results in a droplet operation. Methods and systems are also provided.

The invention provides continuous acid mixing equipment which comprises a continuous acid preparing vehicle and a skid-mounted buffer tank. The continuous acid preparing vehicle comprises a chassis vehicle, a liquid adding pump, an original acid centrifugal pump, a clear water centrifugal pump, a discharging centrifugal pump, an acid mixing tank, an acid-alkali tank, an automatic feeding machine and a dry powder adding device, the liquid adding pump, the original acid centrifugal pump, the clear water centrifugal pump, the discharging centrifugal pump, the acid mixing tank, the acid-alkali tank, the automatic feeding machine and the dry powder adding device are arranged on the chassis vehicle, the clear water centrifugal pump is connected with the acid mixing tank through a clear water manifold, the original acid centrifugal pump is connected with the acid mixing tank through an original acid manifold, a first stirrer and a nozzle are arranged inside the top of the acid mixing tank, and an acid-alkali indicator for displaying acidity and alkalinity in the acid-alkali tank is arranged on the acid-alkali tank; the skid-mounted buffer tank comprises a skid frame, a buffer tank, a skid-mounted engine and a centrifugal pump, the buffer tank, the skid-mounted engine and the centrifugal pump are arranged on the skid frame, the discharging centrifugal pump on the continuous acid preparing vehicle is connected with the buffer tank through a discharging manifold, and a second stirrer is arranged in the buffer tank. Through combined use of the continuous acid preparing vehicle and the skid-mounted buffer tank, continuous mixing of acid is realized; by arranging an acid mist removing device in the acid mixing tank, a lot of acid mist and foam generated during acid mixing are removed effectively, so that the whole continuous acid mixing equipment is safer in operating performance.

A beverage dispenser for combining a number of micro-ingredients, one or more macro-ingredients, and one or more water streams. The beverage dispenser may include a micro-mixing chamber for mixing a number of the micro-ingredients and the water into a micro-ingredient stream and a macro-mixing chamber for mixing the micro-ingredient stream, the macro-ingredients, and the water into a combined stream.

A magnetically driven agitator which includes a member adapted to be mounted through a wall of a receptacle and which has a sleeve in which is housed a rotor which supports a first magnetic coupling structure. A propelling screw is disposed around the sleeve and supports a second magnetic coupling structure which cooperates with the first magnetic coupling structure in order to rotate the screw about an axis of rotation. The rotor is moveable parallel to the axis of rotation inside the sleeve between a first position where the first and second coupling structures are generally opposite to provide a maximum magnetic force therebetween to selected second positions where the magnetic force between the first and second coupling structures is varied such that the magnetic force may be reduced or substantially eliminated.

The present invention provides control methods, control systems, and control software for microfluidic devices that operate by moving discrete micro-droplets through a sequence of determined configurations. Such microfluidic devices are preferably constructed in a hierarchical and modular fashion which is reflected in the preferred structure of the provided methods and systems. In particular, the methods are structured into low-level device component control functions, middle-level actuator control functions, and high-level micro-droplet control functions. Advantageously, a microfluidic device may thereby be instructed to perform an intended reaction or analysis by invoking micro-droplet control function that perform intuitive tasks like measuring, mixing, heating, and so forth. The systems are preferably programmable and capable of accommodating microfluidic devices controlled by low voltages and constructed in standardized configurations. Advantageously, a single control system can thereby control numerous different reactions in numerous different microfluidic devices simply by loading different easily understood micro-droplet programs.

The invention features devices for mixing fluids, e.g., for lysing cells, and methods of use thereof. One device is based on the ability to control the flow of fluids, e.g., by contact angle and channel size. Fluids in this device can be divided to form segments of controlled volume, which are then brought together to initiate midxing. An exemplary use of the device is for the lysis of single cells. Another device is based on the ability to two mix two fluids in a channel and affinity capture of analytes. The devices can be integrated on the same chip with other devices, for example, for cell handling or analysis of DNA, rnRNA, and proteins released from the lysis of a cell.

A microfluidic device comprises inlets for a sample flow and an out-of-plane focusing sheath flow, and a curved channel section configured to receive the sample flow and out-of-plane focusing sheath and to provide hydrodynamic focusing of the sample flow in an out-of-plane direction, the out-of-plane direction being normal to a plane including the curved channel.

A bioreactor that combines the steps of recombinant expression and separation of a biological product by binding the secreted biological product with a resin, discarding the nutrient medium and eluting the biological product as a concentrated solution, eliminating the steps of sterile filtration and volume reduction. The method also allows loading of resin for column-purification, eliminating all steps of perfusion process and maintaining a sink condition of a toxic product in nutrient medium to optimize productivity of host cells. The instant invention also allows harvesting of solubilized inclusion bodies after the cells have been lysed and refolding of proteins inside the bioreactor.

A device and method for generating microcapsules employs an inertial-focusing channel for introducing particles dispersed in a prepolymer suspension fluid, a droplet-generating junction for introducing oil evenly onto the flow of particles to create separated droplets of prepolymer suspension fluid encapsulating respective particles in a streamline flow, and a polymerization section for exposing the droplets to UV light or heat to cause polymerization of a polymer coating on separate microcapsules each containing a respective particle. Preferred suspension fluids may be aqueous solution of poly(ethylene-glycol)-diacrylate (PEGDA), or poly(N-isopropyl-acryalmide) (PNIPAAM). The preferred device may employ a curved or linear inertial-focusing microchannel. Functional tags and/or handles may be added to the microcapsules allowing easy detection, measurement and handling of the microcapsules.

A user interactive custom cosmetic powder color and effects dispensing system and method of doing business.