Cascade Gives Microfluidic Researchers Ability to Perform Live Cell Measurements

Cascade Microtech has announced the launch of M150 Measurement Platform and a thermal microfluidic chip holder for life sciences applications.

Cellular medicine and physiology researchers can now couple Cascade Microtech's L-Series Microfluidic Microport™ interfaces with a thermal microfluidic chip holder and the M150 Measurement Platform to provide sustained experimentation and test live cells.

Scientists and researchers will also have the flexibility to use high power compound microscopes with the M150 Measurement Platform and L-Series Microfluidic Microports in combination.

The M150 Measurement Platform's ability to mount high-powered objective lenses allows researchers to resolve smaller cells, lipids and other objects in the microfluidic channel.

Compound microscopes have light-gathering capability that is designed to enable decreased use of dyes and other materials used for tagging that are immaterial to the experiment.

Researchers seek to reduce these unwanted materials as much as possible in the assay to preserve the credibility of the experiment results.

Cascade Microtech's L-Series is adding a thermal microfluidic chip holder to its product line that provides sustained experimentation in a thermally controlled environment that accurately maintains assay temperatures from minus 10 degrees C to 100 degrees C.

The thermal microfluidic chip holder is designed to enable scientists to get more recordings on a single set-up, improving productivity significantly.

In addition, researchers can take advantage of the L-Series' fluid dispensing and voltage application to get the true metrology.

The platform's approach to configurability allows a researcher to customize the test system with interchangeable device holders and optics hardware.

In addition, the researcher gains the flexibility to start at an affordable entry price point and upgrade or interchange the modules on the platform to increase performance or diversify the applications supported.

Cascade Microtech's L-Series microfluidic systems will now utilize the configurability of the M150 Measurement Platform as the platform of choice for the company's microfluidics metrology products.

The L150-M microfluidics measurement platform will increase functionality for researchers and scientists working with pressure pumping, electroosmotic flow and electrophoresis experiments.

The M150 Measurement Platform is designed to give researchers a modular system that scales from an entry-level/low-cost system to a fully-loaded and feature-rich test station.

The L50 microfluidic system bundle is a basic starter kit system for four-port electrophoresis and/or pressure pumping; it includes the LTP test base, four micro-positioners, a four-pack of any of the Microport interfaces, and high voltage cables if applicable.

With the introduction of the M150 Measurement Platform modularity, the L50 system bundle is now upgradeable to a fully-loaded system by adding modules and accessories.

Announced in August 2005 by Cascade Microtech, the L-Series Microfluidics Metrology Systems are becoming rapidly adopted in the worldwide research community.

They represent a significant leap forward in life sciences research methodology that is based on two products - the L-series MFP and EBP Microport™ interfaces (tiny fluid and electrical field delivery mechanisms) - developed exclusively by Cascade Microtech.

The patent-pending Microport interfaces are based on micron-level probing technology developed by Cascade Microtech.

The technology advancement represented by the use of the Microport interfaces enables scientists to dispense liquid or create an electrical field on a tiny workspace in a way never imagined for microfluidics research applications.