Although there have been great strides made in the field of microfluidics in recent years, researchers and engineers have been hampered by the lack of a single system that provides fast, accurate characterisation of the complex structures they are designing.
Hyphenated Systems make available the 3Dmap, which provides sub-micron structural characterisation of all aspects of microfluidic devices; including steep slopes, rough surfaces, and subsurface features in transparent media, that are not measurable with alternative techniques.
The high-resolution measurements of size and shape provided by 3Dmap are suitable in all phases of microfludics development, from understanding fundamental physical phenomena through developing novel devices and controlling fabrication processes.
It is built around Hyphenated-Systems' Confocal Microscope (ACM), which can render a high-resolution, 3D model of the sample.
The system's optics and open architecture are designed to facilitate the integration of additional analytical techniques, such as flow measurement, live cell imaging, fluorescent bead characterisation, and surface roughness analysis on a single platform.
"The size and shape of these structures is critical to the operation of microfluidic devices. 3Dmap's open architecture provides the user with the flexibility to add additional techniques as needed, constituting a complete analytical solution on a single platform." said Terence Lundy, vice president and managing director, Hyphenated Systems.
"Advanced confocal microscopy has the fundamental resolution and subsurface capability required for microfluidics development," said Nick Doe, chief technical officer, Hyphenated Systems.
"The ability to make subsurface measurements quickly and easily provides critical feedback that is essential in understanding and controlling the processes used for microfluidic devices."
For more details of the 3Dmap, visit Hyphenated Systems' website.