Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha Corporation

Sharp Life Science (eu) Limited

Adrian Marc Simon Jacobs

Benjamin James Hadwen

Jason Roderick Hector

David James Montgomery

Martin David Tillin

Jonathan Harrold

Masahiro Adachi

Michael James Brownlow

Michael John Towler

Emma Jayne Walton

Harry Garth Walton

Patrick Zebedee

Elizabeth Jane Acosta

Mark Childs

Alison Mary Skinner

Graham John Woodgate

Michael Geraint Robinson

Christopher James Brown

David Ezra

Paul Antony Gass

Graham Roger Jones

Diana Ulrich Kean

Richard Robert Moseley

Grant Bourhill

Michael Paul Coulson

Gareth John

Kirstin Ann Saynor

Bronje M Musgrave

Heather Ann Stevenson

Jonathan Buse

Robert Julian Amos

Emma Jayne Beynon

Hywel Morgan

A method of determining the result of an assay in a microfluidic device includes the steps of: dispensing a sample droplet onto a first portion of an electrode array of the microfluidic device; dispensing a reagent droplet onto a second portion of the electrode array of the microfluidic device; controlling actuation voltages applied to the electrode array to mix the sample droplet and the reagent droplet into a product droplet; sensing a dynamic property of the product droplet; and determining an assay of the sample droplet based on the sensed dynamic property. The dynamic property is a physical property of the product droplet that influences a transport property of the product droplet on the electrode array. Example dynamic properties of the product droplet include the moveable state, split-able state, and viscosity based on droplet properties. The method may be used to perform an amoebocyte lysate (LAL) assay.

Droplet microfluidic device and methods of sensing the result of an assay therein

Droplet microfluidic device and methods of sensing the results of an assay therein

An EWOD (or AM-EWOD) device includes a reference electrode and a plurality of array elements, each array element including an array element electrode, and control electronics. In a first mode optimized for EWOD actuation, the control electronics is configured to control a supply of time varying voltages to the array element electrodes and the reference electrode, thereby generating an actuation voltage as a potential difference between voltages at the array element electrodes and the reference electrode. The reference electrode includes a first electrical connection and a second electrical connection. In a second mode, the control electronics further is configured to supply an electrical current flow between the first electrical connection and the second electrical connection to generate resistance heat for controlling temperature of the EWOD device. Control may include sensing a temperature of the EWOD device, and switching between operating in the first or second mode based on the sensed temperature.

Multifunction electrode with combined heating and EWOD drive functionality

A method of droplet manipulation utilizing a droplet manipulation device includes activating elements of the device to bring a first droplet into proximity of a second droplet, controlling the elements of the device to alter the shape of at least one of the first and second droplets, and further controlling the elements of the device to move at least one of the first or second droplets until the droplets are in contact about an aggregate area. The elements are controlled in a manner so as to control the area of contact and the degree of mixing of the fluid between the first and second droplets. The method may be employed to move particles of a particulate suspension from the first droplet to the second droplet. The droplet manipulation device may be an electrowetting on dielectric (EWOD) device, which includes shaping electrodes activated to shape droplets, and a bridging electrode activated to join the droplets to transfer fluid between the shaped droplets.

Efficient dilution method, including washing method for immunoassay

An active matrix device is provided which includes N array elements arranged spatially in a sequence of first through Nth array elements (where N is an integer &#x2267;2); the N array elements each including a write input for receiving a corresponding write input signal which controls operation of the array element, and a sense circuit for sensing a property of the array element and providing a sensor output based on the sensed property; and further including a manipulation circuit including logic circuitry connecting the sensor output from an nth array element in the sequence directly to the write input of an (n+1)th array element and configured to provide the write input signal to the write input of the (n+1)th array element based on the sensor output from the nth array element.

Active matrix device

An array element circuit with an integrated impedance sensor is provided. The array element circuit includes an array element which is controlled by application of a drive voltage by a drive element; writing circuitry for writing the drive voltage to the drive element; and sense circuitry for sensing an impedance presented at the drive element.

Array element circuit and active matrix device

An active-matrix device is provided which includes a plurality of array element circuits arranged in rows and columns; a plurality of source addressing lines each shared between the array element circuits in corresponding same columns; a plurality of gate addressing lines each shared between the array element circuits in corresponding same rows; a plurality of sensor row select lines each shared between the array element circuits in corresponding same rows, wherein each of the plurality of array element circuits includes: an array element which is controlled by application of a drive voltage by a drive element; writing circuitry for writing the drive voltage to the drive element, the writing circuitry being coupled to a corresponding source addressing line and gate addressing line among the plurality of source addressing lines and gate addressing lines; and sense circuitry for sensing an impedance presented at the drive element, the sense circuitry being coupled to a corresponding sensor row select line; and a row driver and a column driver.

An array element for a temperature sensor array circuit. The array element includes a switch transistor; and a temperature sensor element having an impedance which varies as a function of temperature, the temperature sensor element being connected in parallel with a source and drain of the switch transistor.

Array element for temperature sensor array circuit, temperature sensor array circuit utilizing such array element, and AM-EWOD device including such a temperature sensor array circuit

A display is switchable between a first display mode with a first viewing angle range, a second display mode having a second viewing angle range smaller than the first viewing angle range and a multiple view directional display mode. The display includes an image display layer and a control element that is switchable between a first state in which it cooperates with the image display layer to provide the first display mode, a second state in which it cooperates with the image display layer to provide the second display mode, and a third state in which it cooperates with the image display layer to provide the multiple view directional display mode.

Display

An active matrix electrowetting on dielectric (AM-EWOD) device which includes a plurality of array elements configured to manipulate one or more droplets of fluid on an array, each of the array elements including a corresponding array element circuit. Each array element circuit includes a top substrate electrode and a drive electrode between which the one or more droplets may be positioned; circuitry configured to write data to the corresponding array element by selectively applying to the drive electrode either: (i) a time-varying voltage waveform Vof amplitude Vand period t; or (ii) a time-varying voltage waveform V, the logical inverse of V, and applying to the top substrate electrode the time-varying voltage waveform V+V, where Vrepresents an offset voltage signal which may have AC and/or DC components and may equal zero.

Active matrix device and method of driving the same

An optical device comprises an input polarizer, a patterned retarderand an output polarizer. The retarderhas regionsand, at least one of which alters the polarization of light from the input polarizer. The output polarizerhas a transmission axissuch that light passing through the regionsandof the retarderand through the output polarizeris matched in amplitude, phase and polarization. Such a device may be used as a switchable parallax barrier with an LCDto provide a display which is switchable between an autostereoscopic 3D mode and a 2D mode with the 2D mode having more uniform intensity across the display.

Optical device and display operating in two dimensional and autostereoscopic three dimensional modes

An autostereoscopic display comprises a pixellated transflective spatial light modulator which is arranged to provide a visual indication to an observer of the amount of crosstalk caused by reflection of ambient illumination. The display comprises a rear parallax barrier between a backlight and the modulator. Part of the barrier is formed as a screen blocking transmitted light from a first region of the modulator so that the pixels in this region are visible only by reflection of ambient illumination. In a second region, the pixels are illuminated with both transmitted and reflected light. A controller sets the pixels of the first region to maximum intensity and the pixels of the second region to a fraction of the maximum intensity. The fraction corresponds, for example, to a maximum amount of crosstalk which is permissible for autostereoscopic viewing. When the brightness of the first region is darker than or the same as the brightness of the second region, crosstalk is sufficiently low to permit autostereoscopic viewing.

Autostereoscopic display

A spatial light modulator comprises: a first substrate (); a second substrate (); a layer of electrooptic material disposed between the first substrate and the second substrate. A first electrode arrangement () is disposed over the first substrate (); and a second electrode arrangement () is disposed over the second substrate (). The first electrode arrangement () comprises first and second electrode layers () disposed over the first substrate, with the spacing between the first electrode layer () and the first substrate () being different to the spacing between the second electrode () layer and the first substrate (). The first electrode layer () and the second electrode arrangement () are configured so as to co-operate, in use, to define a plurality of first addressable regions in the electrooptic material. The second electrode () layer and the second electrode arrangement () are configured so as to co-operate, in use, to define a plurality of second addressable regions in the electrooptic material.

Spatial light modulator and a display device

A polarization rotator is provided for rotating the polarization direction of linearly polarized light by any arbitrary angle other than 90&#xb0;. The device comprises a layer of liquid crystal material disposed between alignment surfaces. In one mode, a 90&#xb0; twist is induced in the liquid crystal director. An expression is provided for relating the retardation of the layer to the amount of polarization rotation and the angle between the polarization direction of incident light and the alignment direction at the input side of the liquid crystal layer.

Polarization rotator, parallax barrier, display and optical modulator

A broadband optical retardation device, such as may be used for polarisation encoding of display information or in diffractive optical systems, includes a patterned uniform half wave plate retarder in combination with a non-patterned uniform quarter wave plate retarder having an optic axis oriented at 90&deg; to the xz plane. The patterned retarder consists of alternating first and second regions having first and second optic axes at different orientations to a reference axis, for example at &plus;22.5&deg; and &minus;22.5&deg; to the xz plane. Considering light of wavelength &lgr;&deg; incident on the retarder and linearly polarised in the xy plane, such light is differently polarised by the regions, and the light output by the device includes regions in which the light is right circularly polarised and regions in which the light is left circularly polarised. In the case of incident light of wavelengths greater or less than &lgr;&deg;, the output light becomes progressively more linearly polarised as the wavelengths departs to a greater extent from the ideal value, but not to the same extent as would be the case if the device consisted simply of a patterned single layer acting as a quarter plate retarder.

Growing community of inventors

Reading, United Kingdom

Adrian Marc Simon Jacobs