CapitalBio and Tsinghua University of Beijing have received US Patent No. 8,540,416, "Fluidic flow merging apparatus." The patent provides an apparatus for fluidic and microfluidic devices that relies on passive valving with a single sensor to blend contributory working fluid streams. Symmetric and non-symmetric devices with and without branch channels are also described. methods for merging liquids using the apparatus.
Sloan-Kettering Institute for Cancer Research of New York has received US Patent No. 8,540,965, "Single wall nanotube constructs and uses therefore." The patent describes a soluble, single-wall nanotube construct functionalized with a targeting moiety and attached payload molecules. According to the patent, the targeting moiety and the payload molecules may be attached to the soluble single wall carbon nanotube via a DNA or other oligomer platform attached to the single wall carbon nanotube. Methods are also provided for diagnosing or locating a cancer, treating a cancer, eliciting an immune response against a cancer or delivering an anticancer drug in situ via an enzymatic nanofactory using the soluble single wall carbon nanotube constructs.
The University of Maryland of Baltimore and Northern Arizona University of Flagstaff have received US Patent No. 8,541,006, "Methods and devices for the detection of biofilm." A method is claimed for detecting a probability for the presence of a Staphylococcus biofilm. It includes contacting a test sample with one or more detectably labeled proteins, where the proteins are capable of binding antibodies present in the test sample, where the binding produces labeled antibodies. These antibodies are then contacted to a substrate comprising one or more immobilized biofilm markers selected from the group containing specified biomarkers. The binding of the labeled antibodies to the immobilized biofilm markers, where binding indicates a probability for the presence of the Staphylococcus biofilm in the test sample, is then detected.