Life Technologies of Carlsbad, Calif, has received US Patent No. 8,545,248, "System to control fluid flow based on a leak detected by a sensor." The patent describes a system that includes a communication interface to couple to a sensor cartridge, a fluidic subsystem to exchange a reagent solution with the sensor cartridge, and a computational circuitry coupled to the communication interface and the fluidic subsystem. According to the patent, the computation circuitry is used to monitor a sensor signal of a sensor of the sensor cartridge, detect a leak based on the sensor signal, and control fluid flow of the fluidic subsystem.
Life Tech has also received US Patent No. 8,545,772, "Nanoliter array loading."
The patent described an interface for storing microfluidic samples in a nanoliter sample chip. According to the patent, a fluid access structure provides access to a selected subset of sample wells from an array of sample wells. A fluid introduction mechanism then introduces a sample fluid to the fluid access region so that the sample wells in the selected subset are populated with the sample fluid without the unselected sample wells being populated with the sample fluid.
The University of Arkansas of Little Rock and BioDetection Instruments of Fayetteville, Ark., have received US Patent No. 8,545,773, "Versatile multichannel capillary biosensor system. "The claimed system includes a selecting valve system for selection of the sample or a reagent. According to the patent, the selecting valve system is connected to a second valve system accommodating a sensing channel and a first bypass channel. The second valve system is also connected to a directing valve system that is connected, in turn, to a second bypass channel and to a detector for detecting the analyte. The device has a pump connected at one end to the second bypass channel and the detector and at a second end to a waste vessel, according to the patent. The device also has a control system.
Illumina of San Diego has received US Patent No. 8,546,772, "Compensator for multiple surface imaging." A method for imaging biological samples on multiple surfaces of a support structure is claimed. The support structure may be a flow cell through which a reagent fluid is allowed to flow and interact with the biological samples. Excitation radiation from at least one radiation source may be used to excite the biological samples on multiple surfaces. In this manner, fluorescent emission radiation may be generated from the biological samples and subsequently captured and detected by detection optics.
Hai Kang Life Corp. has received US Patent No. 8,547,552, "Method for detection of analyte in microarray of samples and apparatus for performing such method." The method relies on using nano-sized gold- or silver-containing detecting labels in a microarray of samples, where the labels indicate the presence or absence of a target analyte. According to the patent, the samples are illuminated using monochromatic light beams.