DropPen - droplettilaitteen kaupallistaminen (1.1.2019-30.6.2020)
This project aimed at commercialization of DropPen device which could be used for production of nanoliters size droplets for diagnostics and pharmacological purposes. Expensive pharmacological substances, nucleic acids or rare cells can be captured within the droplets and further analysed at molecular level. Project team composed of University of Helsinki, Technical University of Lappeenranta and VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland. Partners combined their knowhow in a) biotechnology applications (UH), b) chip integrated pump system (LUT) and c) manufacturing process development to enable large scale production of DropPen devices (VTT). So far droplet technology has been limited by its high price and difficulty in use due to accurate pumping devices. Solution developed here is significantly cheaper and more practical for the user than the current commercial products. The developed technology benefits R&D departments of medical and diagnostic companies as well as academic research groups. Technology is however not limited to droplets but can be expanded to other (bio)technology applications that require microfluidics and pumps.