Stories & Features

When designing integrated microfluidic consumables, it is important to understand the assay workflow, the functionality of the consumable, and how to scale the consumable for the markets you are looking to penetrate. All aspects of microfluidic consumable design can be carefully reviewed and strategically implemented with what we call an Assay and Reagent Plan.
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Life science instruments are typically designed and developed by experts from various specialties. These experts are primarily focused on differentiating their own core technology in fluidics, imaging and illumination, microfluidics, and sub-systems. When it comes time to commercialize their science into an engineered solution, problems can arise.
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Life Science instrument designers face many challenges when incorporating a fluid delivery system into an instrument. Many instruments on the market use a single positive displacement dispense pump because they are compact and easy to integrate. These systems force designers to make multiple compromises because pump displacement volume, pressure handling, flow rate, and flow duration are all interrelated. How can you achieve accurate, stable flow rates with unlimited flow in your liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry instruments?
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Every time a traditional UHPLC valve is rotated to make an injection in a UHPLC system, the pressure of the mobile phase flowing through the column fluctuates. When switching from load to inject, the system experiences a 11,000 psi (758 bar, 76 MPa) pressure drop. In addition to the injection pressure drop, the column also experiences a pressure drop when the valve switches back to the load position from the inject position. Over time when switching the valve repeatedly, these pressure drops can disrupt column packing and cause the column to experience an early lifetime failure.
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During reagent handling or at the connection junctions, even small changes in the fluid path can cause dissolved gasses to occur in a solution. Factors including pressure, temperature, and chemical mixing are sources of bubble formation. Bubbles in the fluid stream cause detection variables, which can produce unstable, wandering, or noisy baselines. How do you prevent these variable changes in your fluid path? A Degasser
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Fluidic applications with multiplexed reagents tend to result in complicated system designs and manufacturing. If each flow path is not carefully developed, your system will be vulnerable to leaking or kinks, and can trigger a myriad of obstacles such as increased system-volume, excess heat generation, and inaccurate results.
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The healthcare provider experience is constantly evolving as new diagnostic technologies are released that can provide more timely health status information at the point-of-care. What enables this technology to advance? The answer is Microfluidics.
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How can you improve the throughput of your flow cell analysis? Throughput of fluorescence based instrumentation is often constrained by the speed at which a sample can be illuminated. Imaging the entire area requires multiple “step and shoot” scans be stitched together to cover the entire sample area.
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How do you handle customized fluidic design iterations when you are on a tight timeline and budget? In fluidic pathway development, the most efficient way to optimize your system is to integrate a manifold to reduce device size, decrease leaks, and add valves and pumps. This will improve reliability of the flow path and provide consistent performance.
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Last week, our IDEX Health & Science Melles Griot team members moved into the new IDEX Health & Science Center of Excellence. Our Optical Center of Excellence (COE) is a brand new, state-of-the-art facility in Rochester, NY.
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