Dolomite has been working with spin-out company Drop-Tech to produce a new droplet-on-demand sampler.
The two firms are collaborating to productise Robo-Drop technology into the Mitos Dropix, a droplet-on-demand sampler designed to make it easy to produce extremely miniaturised droplet compartments with control over their contents.
It is hoped that the new high high-throughput screening format will prove invaluable in basic research, drug discovery and diagnostics applications.
The collaboration began when Drop-Tech entered – and won – Dolomite’s Productising Science Competition, sparking discussions and exchanges of ideas between the two development teams.
Liisa van Vliet, a Post-doctoral Research Associate at the University of Cambridge and Managing Director of Drop-Tech, said: “Drop-Tech was formed from an academic collaboration between Imperial College London and the University of Cambridge. In a university environment, finding the time to convert an invention into a product is often difficult, so we welcomed Dolomite’s offer to accelerate product development, fast-tracking the transition from idea to market.”
The Mitos Dropix sampler allows the creation of nanoliter droplet sequences from up to 24 different samples, with precise control over droplet content and size, as well as the spacing between droplets. It can be used as an add-on for conventional microfluidic chips, delivering droplets for merging, further miniaturisation, dilution or any other droplet manipulation. It can also be used in conjunction with other analytical and liquid handling systems.
The first batch of instruments will be with beta testers by summer 2013, and further collaboration is planned to develop droplet analysis capabilities on upcoming versions of the instrument.
