A UW-Milwaukee startup is looking to make its mark with a product to boost research in a field known as microfluidics, which crosses disciplines ranging from engineering to biochemistry. Microfluidics involves operating with and manipulating systems involving minute volumes of fluids.
Isopoint Technologies’ E-Trap uses applied voltage to isolate particles inside a fence of electric charge. Unlike current technologies, which are generally limited to trapping either micro- or nano-scale particles, E-Trap can do both. This patented technology has been successful in manipulating larger molecular objects such as a strand of DNA all the way down to particles at the nano-scale.
“The key advantages of the E-Trap over current technologies are versatility, ease of use and scalability; trapping particles at both the micro- and nano-scale is as simple as flipping a switch,” said company founder Alex Francis. “Other technologies are limited to either the micro-scale or the nano-scale, but not both.”
The E-Trap consists of a special laboratory slide, with a thin metallic coating applied to it. In the center of the slide is a circular area, where no treatment has been placed. By applying a charge to the coated area, particles inside the untreated circle become trapped in a kind of force field, where scientists can make observations.
The company says this electrostatic particle trap, or E-Trap, provides researchers with time and cost savings, as well as improved sample preservation. Processes that previously required large laboratory devices can be downsized and performed in something the size of a microscope slide.
Francis, a doctoral candidate in mechanical engineering, founded Isopoint Technologies LLC in 2014 with UW-Milwaukee associate professor of chemistry Jorg Woehl, who originally developed the patented E-Trap technology. Francis and Woehl quickly began their partnership after meeting through a class at the university.
“Microfluidic devices are a key component of this product, which uses micro-liters of fluid; they are simply small channels that can direct the solution that contains the particles of interest towards the electrostatic trap,” said Francis. “Imagine if you kick a soccer ball down a field with your eyes closed, and hope to score a goal; the microfluidic device is like creating a pathway or walls that direct the ball towards the goal. In this case the ball is a micro- or nano-scale particle, like a DNA molecule for example, and the goal is the electrostatic trap, which traps the ball.”
The microfluidic device market is growing: it’s gone from $750 million in 2008, to an estimated $3.9 billion in 2016. Some of the market segments include: pharmaceutical and life sciences research, clinical diagnostics, point of care diagnostics, and drug delivery. The pharmaceutical and life sciences research segment is predicted to reach $1.5 billion alone.
There are more than 200 microfluidic related companies, and 300 microfluidic research labs operating worldwide. Many methods have been developed and used for observing and manipulating single microscopic particles, but other techniques often have limitations to how they can be applied, they are often costly, and they can be complex.
The company says its patented E-Trap technology offers a relatively simple and affordable solution. The E-Trap can also preserve the sample’s integrity over successive observations better than current trapping systems.
Isopoint Technologies aims to start its operation with early adopters in the Milwaukee area, such as universities, and the Blood Center of Wisconsin. Once manufacturing can scale-up from in-house manufacturing at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, the goal is to move to external device fabrication facilities.
Isopoint Technologies hopes to remain in the Milwaukee area, and create new jobs for the city. The new facilities they aim to create should also be able to further enhance the commercialization of related technologies, including water and biomedical technologies developed by UW System participants.
— By Adam Hitchon, for WisBusiness.com. Hitchon is a student in the UW-Madison Department of Life Sciences Communication.
