Fluidics
We Engineer Components that Result in Innovative and Optimized Fluidic Systems
At IDEX Health & Science, we don’t just build components; we also create innovative solutions that maximize performance and enable complete optimization of the fluidic pathway. We manufacture highly trusted fluidic products used in life science instruments that perform precise sample introduction, reagent handling, sample processing, separation, and most other critical analytical tasks.
We are committed to partnering with you in making your flow path successful and efficient. We accomplish consistency through techniques such as developing cleanly swept flow paths with solid connections, employing good interface technique, and designing toward serviceability. Because we work with a diverse range of highly engineered materials, we can ensure dependability by selecting the proper material for critical locations in the flow path.
Learn more about each innovative fluidic solution by hovering over the path and reading below.
Liquid Reagents are Usually Essential to the Analyses of Samples
These chemicals are used to dissolve, condition, react with, carry, deposit, position, or otherwise modify the sample to prepare it for analysis. Few instruments are alike; they vary considerably in the volume of reagents required, the number of reagents, the chemical composition of reagents, and in the relative lifetime of reagents. Instruments may also differ substantially in how they control, segment, and steer reagents in addition to how they cycle between those reagents during an analytical process. As with samples, the quality of analysis often depends on how carefully and reproducibly reagents are moved through the instrument. Often, instruments are particularly sensitive to the relative carryover generated between sequential reagent applications. We know you need to get fluids to the right place at the right time, and usually removed when you are finished with them. We are leaders in preventing carry-over and work very closely with customers on reagent retention problems. Proper flow path design requires evaluation of internal passageways, compatibility of wetted materials, and geometrical pathway optimization –all core areas of expertise for IDEX Health & Science. Share your flow path, design, and timeline needs.Separation
Many Analyses Rely on the Separation or Clean-up of Mixture Components Prior to Detection of Those Components
These separation techniques, which include chromatography, solid phase extraction, and desalting, are essential in the determination of analytes in many complex mixtures and real-world samples. IDEX Health & Science manufactures a wide variety of components to support separation techniques ranging over many orders of magnitude in both flow rate and fluid pressure. We understand the challenges in separating compounds in flowing streams, and the requirement to introduce minute and diverse samples into these fluidic pathways, including the issues related carryover and dispersion. We have designed many components to operate at ultra-high system pressure.Sample Introduction
Many Analyses Begin with a Sample in Liquid Form
The goal of your sampling system is to reproducibly transfer that sample into the instrument with minimal detriment to the sample. Real-world liquid samples vary considerably in their makeup. The available sample size, the matrix components, the sample viscosity, and the nature of the unknowns all drive the design considerations for sampling fluidics. Because of this high diversity between sample types, there is no one-size-fits-all solution for the sampling world, but IDEX Health & Science has significant expertise in customizing fluidics for such diverse needs. As a leader in our industry, we understand the issues that you are facing and want to work as your fluidics partner to create sampling solutions.Sample Processing & Reaction
In Many Assays, a Sample is Prepared for Analysis Through a Series of Internal Processing Steps
These processing steps may include dynamic mixing, stirring, incubation, filtering, adsorption, elution, or heating, to name a few. Often instruments are required to perform these steps either in-line, or through internal batch processing within the instrument. Careful control of experimental conditions, fluid volumes, and fluid flow rates are essential to reproducible results. At IDEX Health & Science we've directed significant focus toward solving sample processing problems for the analytical, biological, and chemical sciences. We are experts in such diverse technologies as flow control, stream switching, flow path multiplexing, and chromatographic separation. Selective incorporation of electromechanical components, such as shear valves and pumps, or passive components like flow restrictors and mixing chambers, are part of the norm in fluid path design; we offer an enormous variety of combinations. We are innovators in the optimization and integration of multiple fluidic components to accomplish reliable assays with high reproducibility.Detection
Detection (Identification, Quantification, or Further Determination) of Sample Components is the Essential Part of Many Analytical, Life Science, and Biotech Instrumentation Processes
IDEX Health & Science has taken a significant role in the optimization of detection methods in a range of industries, including chromatography, mass spectrometry, flow cytometry, DNA sequencing, and hematology. Many commercial analytical and diagnostic instruments have IDEX Health & Science parts (and even entire parts kits) closely associated with their detection schemes. Some OEMs work with us to modify our factory components so they are optimized for their needs, while others require completely new configurations for their detection fluidics. In any case, our goals are to make your detection more efficient and reliable through robust optimized fluidics.Waste Handling
The Waste or Output Pathway of an Instrument is Frequently Overlooked by Developers as a Source of Error
Often, the post-detection flow path is one of the last areas considered by instrument designers, and comes to attention only after all other more “critical” design features have been settled. Issues in the waste pathway (e.g., clogging, pressure fluctuation, backflow, air bubble issues, etc.), usually become serious hindrances on overall system reliability if they aren’t mitigated during these design and testing phases. In extreme cases, otherwise-reliable analyses can be thwarted because of unforeseen problems stemming from the waste pathway in an instrument. IDEX Health & Science works closely with OEM developers on the proper selection and integration of components in the pathway.Custom Fluidics
At IDEX Health & Science, We Specialize in Custom Fluidic Options for a Diverse Group of OEM Partners
We work in many different capacities with our OEM partners, ranging from "Make-to-Print" through designing entire assemblies according to a customer's specifications. We focus on design for manufacturability, with emphases on enhancing reliability, preventing leakage, minimizing carryover, and enhancing usability. Customers may require us to create entire integrated subsystems to solve their fluidic problems, or they may need less-integrated but highly-engineered components to solve smaller challenges. In either case, there are many advantages in partnering with us for custom fluidic solutions. For example, we offer expertise in the modeling, layout and design of fluid pathways, and we understand the limitations imposed by phenomena like adsorption and mixing.
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