2010 R&D 100 Winner
The discovery of the technology employed in the HENDRIX SM100 ultrasonic fluid processor from Microsonic Sytems Inc., San Jose, Calif., started with an accident, when a costly piezoelectric PZT wafer fabricated with a full Fresnel lens was dropped. When patched together and tested, it demonstrated strong signs of lateral thrust. The resulting technologies, the Lateral Ultrasonic Thrust (LUT) and the Fresnel Annular Segmented Actuator (FASA) element, are the basis of a single instrument that can thaw, solubilize, mix, and suspend drug discovery samples in 96- to 3,456-well microplates.
The FASA element is a MEMS multi-channel transducer, fabricated on piezoelectric material. Segmented annular rings of half-waveband sources are etched on both sides, forming two electrodes that project a broad beam of ultrasonic power. Ultrasonic waves pass through water, the coupling medium, and into drug discovery samples as broad beams of acoustic energy. The energy creates regions of strong horizontal lateral ultrasonic thrust that in turn creates strong vertical mixing in the form of a rapid vortex.
At high power, the LUT technology can be used for solubilization and thawing applications. At low power, it can be used for assay mixing or cell or bead suspension.
Technology
Ultrasonic fluid processor for drug research
Developers
Microsonic Systems Inc.
Development Team
The HENDRIX SM100 Development Team from Microsonic Systems Inc.:
Vibhu Vivek, Microsonic Systems Inc.
