anywhereHPLC

About

High pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC) is used in a wide range of industries to separate, identify and quantify compounds from complex mixtures. In conventional HPLC the high pressures required for compound separation are achieved by complex pumps, which have thus far prevented the miniaturisation of HPLC devices. The anywhereHPLC device uses a gas reservoir to achieve this high pressure. As well as reducing the machine footprint to around that of a paper-back book, this also reduces the energy requirements. As such, the miniature HPLC device can be powered by batteries, a solar pack, or via a USB connection to a laptop or a smartphone device making it portable. The anywhereHPLC device can be customised to perform a single application as a user-friendly, one-click instrument. As a less complex system, this reduces the cost compared to a multi-functional HPLC machine, increasing its potential scope and allowing analysis to be carried by operators with only minimal training. It can also be tailored as a single-use device, minimising contamination issues and further reducing the cost as components do not need to be hardwearing. HPLC is currently used in fields such as medicine, forensic science, agriculture and defence where a sample is sent away to a lab for analysis. The anywhereHPLC device will allow on site analysis to be carried out producing faster results. Examples where this may be advantageous include: Hospital medicine or point-of-care disease diagnosis Field testing of agrochemical samples from both crops and environs Heavy-metal and fluoride analysis of ground-water Identification of chemical agents in battlefield or civilian emergency theatres This technology is covered by two patent applications protecting the device design. We are seeking commercial partners to help develop, validate and distribute the technology.  When contacting us, please use our internal reference code: 5509.