Micronit BV
Micronit is a trusted leader in high-quality microfluidic solutions. Our specialized team empowers clients to bring innovative products to market in life science and healthcare with cutting-edge technology and personalized support. While the world keeps thinking bigger. We plunge down into the unseen world of microtechnologies. We team up with our clients in an idea to manufacturing process. Developing unique microfluidic based solutions for life changing companies. Together we enable a world where healthcare is made easy, affordable and accesable. At Micronit, we see that micro- and nanotechnologies have an enormous impact on improving healthcare. As a contract development and manufacturing partner of microfluidic based consumables, we are proud to have contributed to the technologies of today and are thrilled to enable the technologies of tomorrow.
Company details
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- Business Type:
- Manufacturer
- Industry Type:
- Laboratory Equipment
- Market Focus:
- Globally (various continents)
This company also provides solutions for other industrial applications.
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About Us
Our experience with thousands of microfluidic projects has taught us that no matter how great an idea is, it will never see the light of day if it exceeds the thresholds of costs, scalability, and feasibility. That is why we at Micronit make sure that our customers are surrounded by specialists. From designers to project engineers. Our experts guide the product development process from the first prototype to volume manufacturing. Our goal is to transform your concept into a successful product. At Micronit, we put all our energy and passion into developing life-changing products for our clients!
Core Values
Core values of Micronit
- Innovate
- Simplify
- Co-create
- Excel
Lab on a Chip
A lab on a chip (LOC) is a microfluidic platform that incorporates various laboratory functions. Minimizing laboratory processes to the micro-scale has many advantages for testing and monitoring processes in the medical, pharmaceutical and life sciences fields. Lab on a chip technology is also used in agricultural and environmental procedures and in food safety tests.
The purpose of lab on a chip technologyWhat are the benefits of converting conventional lab processes to a lab on a chip? Let’s take a closer look at four major advantages of LOC technology.
1. Miniaturization
The main advantage of all the pluses of a lab on a chip assay is its reduced size. By miniaturizing the total assay workflow, less sample material is needed and the reaction and analysis times are shorter. Performing a test on an LOC is therefore faster and more efficient.
2. Assay workflow automation
When several laboratory steps are incorporated on a lab on a chip platform in sequence, this leads to an automated execution of the complete test. Assay workflow automation is a great advantage because it fully relies on pre-set specifications and thus eliminates the risk of human errors.
3. High throughput screening
Labs on chips are, due to their reduced size, ideally suited to be performed in parallel. This creates opportunities for high-throughput screening: simultaneously running multiple equal tests on one device. Large-scale screening of biological compounds can greatly accelerate processes in the fields of drug discovery and virus testing.
4. Point-of-care
Finally, let’s not forget point-of-care as a rapidly evolving trend in healthcare. Point-of-care means that tests and treatments are carried out directly at the required location. Lab on a chip technology offers excellent opportunities for this. All elements that are required to perform a test are available on the few square inches of the platform. The total assay can be completed on-site in a fast and efficient manner. This abolishes the need to send sample material and test results back and forth to a lab.
Lab on a chip product manufacturingMicronit is a unique partner in lab on a chip product development and manufacturing. We have the capabilities to process glass, silicon, polymer and hybrid combinations. These are all materials that are typically used in the production of microfluidics-based devices.
High-end labs on chips are mostly manufactured in glass. Glass offers the best optical transparency, chemical inertness and surface flatness. However, if structures with high aspect ratios are required (i.e., very deep and narrow channels), silicon is a more suitable substrate material. In our cleanroom we have the dry etching techniques in place to create these high aspect ratio structures in silicon.
Currently, there is a large demand for labs on chips in polymer. Polymer is by far the least expensive material of the three and is therefore mostly used for lab on a chip disposables. The most used processing techniques for polymer labs on chips are micromilling and replication. These techniques are relatively simple compared to the processing of glass and silicon.
In cases where the lab on a chip is used in a point-of-care diagnostics application, mostly the total device will consist of a consumable and a readout system. The lab on a chip consumable is the platform that contains the actual assay workflow. It is a chip with a network of microfluidic channels and features like valves, pumps, sensors and reagents. The sample material is applied to this chip, after which the test takes place.
In some cases, a readout system can be incorporated into the lab on a chip consumable (as is done in most self-care virus tests or pregnancy tests). Mostly however, a separate readout device will be required to obtain the test results. The reader is a permanent device, whilst the lab on a chip is in most cases a disposable, suitable for one-time use only.
Polymer is a preferred substrate material for lab on a chip consumables. Not in the least because it is very attractive from a costs point of view.
Partner in lab on a chip solutionsMicronit has provided lab on a chip solutions for over 20 years. We have contributed to the development of the diagnostics market by producing increasingly sophisticated and complex lab on a chip products. We are a leading global player in this market with a unique combination of in-house engineering and manufacturing capabilities.
Instead of having to sit down with two different parties, our customers can benefit from a streamlined flow from lab to fab. Advantages: short lines of communication and coordinated working methods of the two departments. Next to that, we are able to process all most-used materials within lab on a chip manufacturing and our production facility is ISO 9001:2015 and ISO 13485:2016 certified.
Are you working on a concept for a new lab on a chip? Would you like to see how Micronit’s engineering and manufacturing departments can help you out? Then contact us. Our business development managers are happy to advise and together we will get your new product ready to be launched!
What are Microfluidic Devices?
Microfluidic devices represent a field of technology which has revolutionized the scientific world. It has its roots in the development of miniaturized analytical systems in the 1970s and 1980s. The invention of microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) in the 1990s enabled the development of microfluidic devices with complex geometries and integrated components. Since then, microfluidics has become an interdisciplinary field, combining physics, chemistry, engineering, and biology to address a wide range of applications.
Microfluidics finds its applications in diverse fields such as chemistry, biology, physics, engineering, and medicine. The field of microfluidics is broadly divided into three categories based on the nature of the application.
- Analytical microfluidics: This category includes applications that use microfluidics for chemical and biochemical analysis, such as separation, mixing, detection, and quantification of analytes. Examples of analytical microfluidic devices include Genomic Analysis and Proteomic Analysis with microfluidic flow cells and Cell Analysis and Sorting.
- Diagnostic microfluidics: This category includes applications that use microfluidics retrieving diagnostic answers from small samples. Examples of diagnostic microfluidics: Point-of-care Diagnostics, Environmental Monitoring, Food Safety Testing.
- Biomedical microfluidics: This category includes applications that use microfluidics for biomedical research and clinical applications, such as cell culturing, drug delivery and organ-on-a-chip. Examples of biomedical microfluidic devices include microfluidic cell sorting devices, microfluidic tissue engineering, and microfluidic spray nozzles.
- Chemical Synthetic microfluidics: This category includes applications that use microfluidics for the synthesis and production of materials and compounds, such as nanoparticles, emulsions, and microspheres. Examples of synthetic microfluidic devices include microfluidic bio-reactors and microfluidic droplet generators.
Understanding microfluidic products begins with comprehending the basic principle of microfluidics.
Microfluidics finds its applications in diverse fields. There is a wide variety of microfluidic products available in the market where you can start your research of product development.
- Microfluidic Flow Cells: Microfluidic flow cells are specially crafted to allow continuous flow of liquid samples through the path of a beam, essential in numerous laboratory and industrial applications. Glass microfluidic flow cells have the ability to observe and assess the ongoing process in real-time
- Microfluidic Droplet Generators: A microfluidic droplets generator setup allows you to generate highly reproducible microsized droplets. This is critical in single-cell studies and high-throughput screening.
- Microfluidic Cell Sorting: Microfluidic cell sorting serves the purpose of refining or cleansing cell samples to form distinct and well-characterized groups. Used in biology and medicine, these devices sort cells based on specific properties, aiding in areas like stem cell research and cancer diagnostics.
- Microfluidic Micro mixers: These mix small fluid quantities rapidly and efficiently. Because of the stable and controlled environment these products are vital in chemical synthesis and biochemical assays.
- Microfluidic sheet nozzles: Spray nozzles disperse liquid into a spray. A liquid and a gas are separately introduced into the chip, they merge in the middle and finally the outlet produces an oval-shaped, ultrathin sheet. These freeflowing liquid sheets are used for IR, x-ray and electron spectroscopy.
- Organ-on-a-chip: Replicating human organ functionality on a chip, these devices provide realistic and more physiologically relevant models for drug testing and disease modeling.
Microfluidic devices have many advantages over traditional laboratory techniques. The core principle of working with small volumes leads to faster reactions, less waste, higher throughput and automation of workflows. Microfluidic products can achieve high throughput and sensitivity, require small sample volumes, and enable precise control over reaction conditions.
The integration of components and functions allows, moreover, for automation of workflows resulting in better performance and higher quality of results. These properties make microfluidics particularly well-suited for applications in life science and healthcare, where rapid and accurate detection of biomolecules is critical. Microfluidics is also useful for chemical synthesis and analysis, as well as environmental