Arrayjet Pushes Microarray Spotter Throughput

Arrayjet today announced the release of the new Ultra-Marathon Inkjet Microarrayer. The Ultra-Marathon is based on the same robust platform as its predecessors, the Marathon and Super-Marathon Inkjet Microarrayers. It therefore utilises the now-proven piezoelectric inkjet technology developed by Arrayjet for the high-speed production of high quality microarrays. The Ultra-Marathon takes the capacity and throughput of microarray production to a whole new level however: available with and without the Microplate Stacker Module launched by Arrayjet in 2005, the Ultra-Marathon adds patented slide-handling capability to the platform, increasing its capacity to 1,000 1x3” (25x75mm) glass slides. In isolation this represents a significant enhancement, but when combined with the recently announced Array Multiplier™ software module, which enables users to specify almost any number of mini- arrays to be printed on each slide (space permitting) one could imagine 1000 slides each bearing, for example, 16 mini-arrays. This means that a total of 16,000 microarrays could be produced in a single, fully automated print run – surely an unprecedented level of production.

Company founder Dr Howard Manning, Arrayjet’s inkjet expert, stated, “The Ultra-Marathon was originally conceived with functionality beyond what was thought required. Time has shown though that this throughput is exactly what the market needs to push forward. Personally it brings me and the entire engineering team at Arrayjet enormous satisfaction to have completed what is clearly a highly sophisticated and complex development of our existing technology.” Commercial Director Duncan Hall, commented, ”We have, over the last twelve to eighteen months, noted the increase in the number of companies who want to produce large numbers of high quality microarrays as part of their business, be it a service model, or the supply of reagents and consumables to the research community. In particular, there has been a shift towards protein microarrays.”

Hall continued, “These companies have been coming to Arrayjet looking for a very high-throughput inkjet microarrayer to service their requirements; there is nothing available on the market which can achieve the levels of throughput they need, be it a contact or non-contact printing technology. This therefore represents a fantastic opportunity for Arrayjet to take a share of this market. We already have an Ultra Marathon installed and working in the field, and have strong expressions of interest in a further five to ten instruments, all prior to the product launch!”

Since launching its first products in 2005, Arrayjet now has installations throughout the world, with a growing base of highly satisfied users. Launching the Ultra-Marathon now grants Arrayjet seemingly sole access to what could be a fast growing and highly profitable market.