RainDance Technologies Collaborates with Sony DADC to Commercialize Smart Consumables for Life Science Applications

RainDance Technologies, Inc., the leading provider of microdroplet-based single molecule and single cell analysis solutions, and Sony DADC Austria AG, today announced the culmination of a multi-year collaboration for the co-development and manufacture of microdroplet-based “smart consumables” for use in life science markets.

As part of this collaboration, RainDance also announced the commercial release of its new HeatWave™ chip, the first microdroplet-based consumable developed using the Sony DADC Optical Disc technology for high-precision and high-volume manufacturing.

Capable of performing sophisticated, high-throughput and high-precision microdroplet manipulations on-chip without moving parts or valves, the polymer-based HeatWave chip was designed by RainDance for use on its RDT 1000 instrument. As a single-use consumable, the HeatWave chip builds on the success of RainDance’s existing polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) design and provides a consistent, scalable and simple workflow for life science research applications, such as targeted next-generation sequencing, rare cancer mutation detection and genetic screening.

The RainStorm™ technology that powers the RainDance RDT 1000 is based on the manipulation of picoliter-volume droplets within the micro-channels of a disposable polymer chip. Each HeatWave chip is capable of rapidly performing precise operations, such as generating, delivering and merging microdroplets. The chips can be easily adapted and customized for a broad range of applications and workflows for current and future RainDance products.

The new HeatWave chip supports all of the current RDT 1000 commercial applications, including targeted and ultra-deep sequencing, as well as the recently announced line of comprehensive genetic research screening panels: ADMESeq™, ASDSeq™, XSeq™ and HLASeq™.

For more information about RainDance and its products, please visit the company article page.