Novel pocket-sized device offers vacuum-free approach to solid phase extraction

Biotech Fluidics has announced SPEedy™, a device designed to simplify Solid Phase Extraction (SPE) sample preparation procedures. The device requires no external vacuum and is compatible with any adsorption chemistry or eluent composition.

SPEedy™ is small enough to fit in a lab coat pocket, and the company has said that it can complete full SPE procedures within minutes.

The design of SPEedy™ removes the need for the heavy manual manifolds and external vacuum sources traditionally used in SPE sample preparation, sources that Biotech Fluidics has described as often inconsistent. It also removes the need to purchase positive-pressure laboratory instruments that require a constant gas supply.

The device is intended to give laboratories complete control of their SPE processes, so that no sample is left to dry out while a neighbouring sample elutes. According to Biotech Fluidics, each sample processed by SPEedy™ has its own flow path, which is designed to minimise the risk of cross-contamination.

SPEedy™ can be adapted to almost any SPE format in terms of volume and working diameter. Biotech Fluidics has also said that a fully automated version of the device is in development, intended to provide controlled flow management across multiple parallel SPE procedures.

The design of SPEedy™ is protected by Swedish patent SE547146.C2, and global patent applications are pending.

Biotech Fluidics is a supplier of fluidic system solutions, liquid transfer components, degassing systems and laboratory technology to instrument developers, manufacturers and distributors worldwide. The company has said that its aim is to support its customers, to design and assemble distinctive products, to act as a dependable partner, and to provide service, technical knowledge and support from its sites in Sweden, the US and Japan.