Partnership Studies
Keep Your Eye on Innovation.
Let us Handle the Integration.
Through strategic partnerships, IDEX Health & Science engineers innovative components that result in optimized optofluidic systems. We don’t just build components; we also create innovative solutions that maximize performance and enable the complete optimization of the entire optofluidic pathway. We manufacture highly trusted products used in life science instruments that perform precise sampling, reagent handling, optical analysis, sample processing, and many other analysis tasks.
Browse through our case studies below to see how partnership is the new innovation:
Reproducibility & Reliability
CUSTOMER REQUIREMENT:
Our partner needed a highly advanced microfluidics interface.
SOLUTION:
We used our expertise in engineered thermoplastics, process control, and manufacturing to create a fluidic manifold that met the demands of ultra-low-volume analysis and allowed the easy interchange of consumable
microfluidic chips.
Enhance Valve Capabilities
CUSTOMER REQUIREMENT:
Our partner required precise control of multiple reagents.
SOLUTION:
Our rotary shear valves provide complex flow-switching without accidental flow pumping. These features enhance applications that use multiple reagents, where carryover or accidental flow would hinder the analysis.
Reduce Risk of Critical Biological Contamination
CUSTOMER REQUIREMENT:
Our partner required a pump mechanism for self-contained cartridges.
SOLUTION:
Our engineers developed two different approaches to this problem which are both equally well suited for mass manufacturing and facilitate completely sealed and self-contained cartridge designs. First, is fluid manipulation using a bellow. Bellow volume is modified by an instrument-based actuator and due to the hermetically sealed design of the consumable itself, this compression leads to a fluid manipulation. Second, is the implementation of a thin-film pump, also mechanically operated by the instrument, into a closed-loop fluidic network. Two layers of film being assembled to the consumable are deflected to form a pump cavity and are operated similar to a peristaltic pump.
Engineered Efficiency
CUSTOMER REQUIREMENT:
Our partner required a compact, low pressure, low power consumption pump for diagnostics.
SOLUTION:
We created a compact, multi-channel peristaltic pump with three digitally-controlled fluid drives in a single panel-mount package. This innovative design reduces system components and provides streamlined controls
for automation.
Autofocusing Between Consumable & Instrument
CUSTOMER REQUIREMENT:
Our partner required alignment across applications from tens to hundreds of microns.
SOLUTION:
Our engineers installed a Ronchi Grating directly onto the consumable, allowing active alignment by autofocusing. Since the grating is located in a defined proximity to the detection channel, the instrument can
easily detect the position of the disposable and fine-tune for optical read-out.
Optimized Lab-on-a-Chip Liquid Reagent Storage
CUSTOMER REQUIREMENT:
Our partner required protection and preservation of reagent stability during manufacturing, assembly, and long-term storage.
SOLUTION:
Our lab-on-a-chips feature liquid reagents stored in both blister packs and in cavities on the chip. A controlled release of the liquid reagent is achieved with a frangible seal on the channel which connects the
blister to the rest of the fluidic network of the cartridge.
Enhanced Sampling
CUSTOMER REQUIREMENT:
Our partner asked us to help minimize carryover and fluid loss during sample introduction.
SOLUTION:
Our support team worked closely with the customer to teach valve operation, sample loop overfill, rinsing, and pressure equalization methods. These procedures were used in the instrument after collaborative validation, resulting in a significant increase in system reliability.
Ultra-Long Life Pumping
CUSTOMER REQUIREMENT:
Our partner required high-precision, ultra-long life, positive displacement pump for application in protein analysis.
SOLUTION:
Our engineers designed a screw-driven pump with an energized seal and an ultra-smooth, ultra-hard piston that has unsurpassed life length and industry-leading precision.
Scalable Solution for Dry Reagent Storage
CUSTOMER REQUIREMENT:
Our partner needed storage of dry reagents for complex assays that are reliable, cost effective, and scalable.
SOLUTION:
Reagents are dispensed and dried onto reagent carriers called reagent plugs. These plugs are prepared independently from the cartridge in larger batches, functionalized on a SBS titerplate format and assembled to the cartridge in a final assembly step. The processes for dry reagent preparation can be developed and performed independently of the cartridge manufacturing processes using standard equipment and has been proven to be scalable and compatible with industrial functionalization and assembly processes.
Optimized Materials
CUSTOMER REQUIREMENT:
Our partner required rigid, high-tolerance sample probe arrays for biological analysis.
SOLUTION:
We developed composite metal / thermoplastic probe assemblies with the strength and precision of metal and the biological compatibility of a wetted flow path. These engineering innovations ensure reliable probe integrity, every time for every instrument.
High-Performance Reagent Conditioning
CUSTOMER REQUIREMENT:
Our partner required help with low-impact solvent degassing.
SOLUTION:
Our dynamic vacuum-level control system provides optimized degassing while protecting solvent composition. The result is extremely high quality degassing with minimal detriment, that greatly enhances run-to-run reliability.