Novel Technique Enables Rapid Size Determination of Quantum Dots and Nanoparticles

Paraytec Ltd. has announced a new application note that demonstrates how its ActiPix™ Nano-Sizing System has been used to rapidly determine the hydrodynamic radius of a series of quantum dot and nanoparticle samples.

Quantum dots are a new form of semiconductors that model atoms.  Being only nanometers in size and offering high quantum efficiency, quantum dots are opening up exciting new applications in medical imaging, electronics and optical technologies.  Determining the hydrodynamic radius of synthesized samples is of considerable importance as size has a significant effect on the more subtle effects offered by quantum dots.

Data presented on the website  (http://www.paraytec.com/downloads/application-notes/) shows how researchers were able to achieve excellent correlation between experimental and expected values of quantum dot hydrodynamic radii with typical analysis times of less than 10 minutes.  Professor Stephen Evansof the Department of Physics at the University of Leeds (UK) commented “We are delighted at the data generated from this study. This approach promises to offer significant benefit to the quantum dot and nanoparticle manufacturing community as it has the potential to enable rapid, on-line size determination in a fraction of the time offered by current methods such as Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) ”.

The study was peformed on the ActiPix™ HT Nano-Sizing System. This system is a high precision nano-sizing system consisting of a precision nano-injector, autosampler and detector. Samples are typically stored in the autosampler prior to injection of a few nanolitres of each sample into a fused capillary. A plug of the sample, typically 20-100 nL, is injected at the capillary inlet of a specially designed sizing cartridge and driven by application of external pressure along the capillary.  UV absorption of the sample is recorded in the first and the second detection window using the ActiPix™ D100 detector. Whilst the area of the peak is the same, the widths of both peaks are different: the signal from the second window has a greater width and lower amplitude due to Taylor dispersion.  The peaks are fitted with an appropriate peak fitting function using software supplied with the system. The area under the peak corresponds to the amount of the quantum dot injected. The standard deviations are used to calculate the hydrodynamic radius of the sample. 

Paraytec’s multi-award winning product, the ActiPix™ D100, is the world’s first quantitative UV area imaging system. As well as providing superior performance over conventional particle measuring techniques, which cannot effectively measure down to sub 20 nanometre sizes, the patented ActiPix™ opens up intriguing new possibilities never before possible using conventional detectors. 

Paraytec Ltd is a scientific instrument company based in York, UK, designing, developing and manufacturing innovative detectors. Paraytec was established in January 2005 as a spin-out from the Chemistry Department at the University of York, UK. Winner of the prestigious PittCon Editors Silver Award and an R&D 100 Award in 2007, the ActiPix™ D100 has achieved widespread recognition as a novel analytical instrument delivering applications advances.

For further information please contact Paraytec Ltd. on +44-1904-526270 or email info@paraytec.com

Bibliography Demonstrates Applications of UV Area Imaging...

Paraytec Ltd., the developer of the world's first quantitative UV area imaging system, has announced a major expansion of their online applications bibliography and technical downloads section.

Located at http://www.paraytec.com/downloads/brochures-catalogues/ - Paraytec have assembled a selection of application notes, technical articles, posters and presentations that demonstrate the growing array of applications that benefit from their ActiPix™ technology.

Paraytec's multi-award winning product, the ActiPix™ D100, is the world's first quantitative UV area imaging system. As well as providing superior performance over existing micro and nano flow detectors the patented ActiPix™ opens up intriguing new possibilities never before possible using conventional detectors. 

Applications for the company's patented ActiPix™ technology can be broadly classified into two types, area imaging or capillary based. Area imaging applications include real time study of diffusion processes, in-line quantification and sizing of biopharmaceuticals, dissolution / solubility testing and membrane transport studies. Capillary based applications include use of the ActiPix™ D100 as a sensitive and selective detector for multiplexed capillary electrophoresis (CE), nano-liquid chromatography (nano-LC) and capillary LC experiments. 

Paraytec Ltd is a scientific instrument company based in York, UK, designing, developing and manufacturing innovative detectors. Paraytec was established in January 2005 as a spin-out from the Chemistry Department at the University Of York, UK. Winner of the prestigious PittCon Editors Silver Award and an R&D 100 Award in 2007, the ActiPix™ D100 has achieved widespread recognition as a novel analytical instrument delivering applications advances.

For further information please contact Paraytec Ltd. on +44-1904-526270 or email info@paraytec.com  

Read the latest developments from UCL in biocatalysis using the ActiPix™ D100 detector in a unique set of experiments

http://www.paraytec.com/docs/282/ucl-biocatalysis-poster.pdf

Paraytec Ltd (York, UK) are proud to announce the launch of the ActiPix™ Nano-Sizing System. The system will formally be launched at the ‘AUC and Hydro Meeting’ at Newcastle University and utilises Paraytec’s award winning ActiPix™ UV area imaging technology.

‘The ActiPix™ Nano-Sizing System is the first of a series of applications driven products to be generated from our core UV area imaging technology.’ said Mark Vaux, Chief Executive Officer. ‘By reaching customers in a range of different markets, Paraytec are on course to capitalise on the tremendous flexibility our technology has to offer.’

Professor David Goodall, Chief Scientific Officer explained ‘Our approach is based on well-founded Taylor dispersion analysis theory for determining hydrodynamic radius of molecular species. Our detector enables us to keep track of the increase in peak width of a 10 nanolitre sample travelling through an open tubular capillary.’ As we are utilising the ultra violet absorbance for detection, our approach means that a direct value is obtained for species of small to large size and does not have the size bias of other techniques.

The technique promises exciting opportunities for size determination of traditionally difficult samples such as membrane proteins.

Dr Mebs Surve, Business Development Director added ‘Our elegant approach provides significant benefits over conventional techniques such as light scattering, including low sample requirement and high dynamic range. We have received tremendous interest from the market. Customers working in a variety of application areas including protein production, protein purification and protein characterization are all likely to benefit.’

08-Aug-2008 - University of York, UK, spin-out Paraytec, has published new results that extend the use of its ActiPix™ UV area imaging detector to applications in enzyme assays and protein sizing.

The latest results have been condensed into two application notes and describe how the active pixel UV area imaging detector can be used to size proteins as small as 1nm as well as used to save time and reagents when conducting substrate specificity experiments on enzymes such as protein kinases.

Paraytec made a big impression at Pittcon 2007, with its ActiPix™ D100 capillary-based UV/Vis detector snatching the Silver Pittcon Editor's Award from under the noses of industry giants just days after its release. The company has since built on this success by winning an R&D100 award.

Last December, the company won a £1m (€1.26m) grant from UK's TSB (Technology Strategy Board) and the EPSRC (Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council) to lead a multidisciplinary consortium with partners Avecia, Intertek ASG, Lilly, Lonza and the University of Bradford with the aim of developing instruments for quantification of biopharmaceutical aggregation for use in R&D/QC and on-line in bioprocessing.

The sizing application works by measuring a phenomenon known as Taylor dispersion, which provides information about the size of a molecule from the broadening of an injected sample zone driven by pressure through a capillary

When a liquid flows through a capillary, liquid flows faster at the centre than at the walls, causing species that are present in the liquid to be dispersed along the tube axis. Acting counter to this is diffusion transverse to the tube axis.

Since small molecules diffuse faster than proteins or aggregates, small molecules give narrower bands than proteins, whilst aggregated proteins and particles give even wider bands.

As long as it contains a chromophore, the size of any species can be determined by measuring the change in the width of its UV band as it flows through a capillary.

According to Professor David Goodall, Chief Scientific Officer at Paraytec, the technique can be used to generate highly precise and accurate sizing data about molecules that are too small to be determined using light scattering techniques.

Light scattering techniques can only determine the size of particles, however by changing the UV wavelength filter the ActiPix™ detector can also distinguish between different materials in successive experiments.

This is proving to be particularly useful for sizing membrane proteins that typically have to be studied in detergent solutions, as the detergent forms micelles that tend to dominate the results gained using light scattering techniques.

However, because the micelles are not UV active, the ActiPix™ can study the proteins themselves, unhindered by the presence of the micelles.

While initial studies involved sizing proteins, the firm has also demonstrated sizing of nanoparticles – an area that is currently receiving much interest due to concerns about the toxicological effects of nanoparticles.

Working in collaboration with Paraytec during a PhD at the University of York, Pawel Urban developed a new technique that uses the ActiPix™ area detector to study enzyme activity and kinetics.

The continuous engagement electrophoretically mediated microanalysis (EMMA) assay offers an alternative to enzyme assays that involve the separate steps of incubation, sampling at a number of time points, separation and detection.

“Using EMMA assays will enable drug companies to quickly study the activity of enzymes such as kinases against putative substrates and inhibitors as well as quickly analysing the kinetics of the reaction,” said Prof. Goodall.

A key advantage of the new technique is that it permits lower concentrations of enzyme to be used than other assay methods, as the interaction between enzymes and substrates can occur throughout the entire run. This is particularly useful when working with expensive, or very rare enzymes.

The technique works by injecting a plug of putative substrates into a fused silica capillary containing the dissolved enzyme.

During the initial part of the run the components are separated, avoiding the potential competitive binding and inhibition problems that can occur in standard enzyme assays.

The UV peaks are measured at multiple time points along the looped capillary, with those components that have decreasing peak areas over time being good substrates and the multiple analysis points enabling kinetic profiles for each reaction to be obtained.

“The technique should enable cross-reactivity studies to be conducted far more efficiently than ever before and will no doubt prove to be of immense use to pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies in the future,” said Prof Goodall.

Paraytec’s multi-award winning product, the ActiPix™ D-100, is the world’s first quantitative UV area imaging system. As well as providing superior performance over existing micro and nano flow detectors the patented ActiPix™ opens up intriguing new possibilities never before possible using conventional detectors. On the Analytica Stand 382/1, Hall 3 in the Innovations area Paraytec will provide live demonstrations of the ActiPix™ D-100’s unique area imaging capability in applications of interest to Pharmaceutical, Biotech and Biological researchers. These will include new measurement capabilities in applications including real time study of diffusion processes, in-line quantification and sizing of biopharmaceuticals, dissolution / solubility testing and membrane transport studies.

Compact in design the ActiPix™ D100 consists of a control box connected via a fibre optic cable and communications cable to a remote sensor head. The sensor head holds easily exchangeable, application-specific cartridges for techniques including capillary electrophoresis (CE), nano-liquid chromatography (nanoLC) and powerful imaging of lab-on-chip devices. The miniature detector head contains a high resolution 1280x1024 active pixel sensor. The detector can be used as a ‘plug and play’ accessory linked in-line to single or multiple peripheral devices, such as existing CE or nanoLC instrumentation, with or without a mass spectrometer. Detection is performed at a selected wavelength by means of interchangeable filters. Light is delivered via a fibre optic coupled pulsed xenon light source. Readout of signals from individual pixels is carried out at MHz rates, with all processing done in hardware on high performance electronic assemblies. Processed data including absorbance values covering the whole imaged area is output in real-time to a computer using an industry-standard high-speed serial data link.

Dr Mebs Surve (Business Development Manager) commented 'The ActiPix™ D-100 extends the use of UV-Vis absorbance detection to a range of new biological and pharmaceutical applications. Using capillaries as sample vessels, we are able to characterise tiny sample volumes with exceptional sensitivity over a wide dynamic range. Combined with our use of active pixel area sensors alongside real-time processing software, results can become not just numbers, but incredibly powerful real-time images'.

Paraytec Ltd is a scientific instrument company based in York, UK, designing, developing and manufacturing innovative detectors. Paraytec was established in January 2005 as a spin-out from the Chemistry Department at the University of York, UK. Winner of the prestigious Pittcon Editors Silver Award and a R&D 100 Award in 2007, the ActiPix™ D-100 has achieved wide spread recognition as a novel analytical instrument delivering applications advances.

Illustrative Image: (illustrative image on request)

Dr Bill Gosling, non-executive Chairman representing the Viking Fund and YFM Group on the Board of Directors explained “Paraytec have done what so many university spin-outs fail to do; they have addressed manufacturing and certification issues from the outset to the point where they are already achieving a good gross margin that they know how to increase. At the same time and in the best development time-compression manner, they have got their products into the international marketplace and started to receive that all-important user feed-back from a growing network of distributors and Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs). Viking Fund and YFM Group are happy to have had the opportunity to increase their equity stakes in this exciting business opportunity.”

“This funding round will enable Paraytec to capitalize on an incredible 2007 where we have established ourselves as a credible player in the lucrative multi-billion dollar analytical and life sciences instrumentation market” commented Mark Vaux, Chief Executive Officer. “This capital will fund our growth plans for 2008 and beyond. Our first objectives will be to strengthen the technical and commercial teams to enable the development and exploitation of unique applications using our international award winning detector, the ActiPix D100. When I joined Paraytec earlier this year I saw it as an exciting opportunity to combine my business and leadership experience with the technological know-how already in the company. Now we have this funding in place we can press on with maximizing the growth of our company.” “The detector uses capillaries the width of a human hair to carry tiny liquid samples through a beam of UV light, then captures and processes the images using an Active Pixel Sensor similar to the technology used in digital cameras and mobile phones. The ActiPix allows scientists to “see” a complex reaction taking place in real time and to quantify the components. It provides very high sensitivity, and requires 1000 times less sample than existing techniques, making it ideal for high value samples such as biopharmaceuticals” explained Paraytec’s Chief Scientific Officer, Professor David Goodall.

Dr Mebs Surve, Business Development Director, added “Opinion leaders and potential OEMs are excited about the unique capabilities our ActiPix technology brings to the market place. Not only can we exploit our imaging technology into applications involving capillaries, but the flexibility of our technology will enable us to develop applications into new areas and hence new products at significantly reduced development costs”.

Professor David Goodall, Chief Scientific Officer at Paraytec commented ‘We are delighted to be lead partner in this project. Our award winning ActiPix™ D100 UV detection technology will play a central role in the novel analytical instrumentation. Our approach will enable simultaneous UV quantification and sizing to allow monomeric species of biopharmaceuticals to be readily distinguished from dimers and aggregates. For bioprocessing companies like Avecia and Lonza, an attraction of this technology is that UV detection is the method of choice for monitoring and quantifying biopharmaceuticals during separation and polishing stages. Thus the ability to gain additional information on size is seen as a significant benefit.’

As an academic partner, the University of Bradford will be fully supported by the EPSRC. Professor Rob Forbes of Biophysical Pharmaceutics at the University of Bradford and principal investigator said “This is an enormously exciting project bringing together a great consortium of expertise from different sectors.  To be able to explore the usefulness of novel award-winning technology with real pharmaceutical innovation potential to help biopharmaceutical manufacturers develop protein medicines is great news. It is rewarding to know that the EPSRC through its life sciences interface recognised the good science that in this project will determine whether the molecules that make up the medicine are sticking together, and if so will allow a precise measure of the effect.  This sticking together or aggregation can cause the medicine to lose efficacy or in the worst case cause the body to react adversely.  I'm delighted that Bradford's School of Pharmacy has the opportunity to use its knowledge to make biopharmaceutical medicines work better and reduce costs.”

John Birch from Lonza added “As a CMO Lonza is involved in developing manufacturing processes for a wide range of proteins. The ability to rapidly monitor and quantify aggregate levels at or on-line has great potential in process development and we are excited to be part of a project which looks at novel approaches to this challenge.”

“Intertek ASG, working with the University of Bradford, will apply a range of existing technologies to the study of aggregation states in materials supplied by the consortium partners” commented Dr Nick Crabb, Intertek ASG Laboratory Director. “The objectives are to both position the ActiPix™ technology and to also derive best practice in aggregation studies across a range of technology options. Intertek ASG, along with other consortium partners, will also advise on features of the new instrumentation to facilitate qualification for use in highly regulated environments”.

The development project will take place over the next two years.  The project will be followed by commercialization of the instrumentation by Paraytec.

Paraytec, the UK based scientific instrument company which manufactures miniature UV-visible absorbance detectors, has won a prestigious R&D 100 Award for its ActiPix™ D100 detector.

The R&D 100 Awards, “The Oscars of Invention”, for 2007 will be presented at a gala Awards Banquet in Chicago on October 18th.  

Widely recognized in industry, government, and academia as a mark of excellence for the most innovative ideas of the year, the R&D 100 Awards are the only industry-wide competition rewarding the practical applications of science.

The awards recognize the 100 most promising new products, processes, materials, or software developed throughout the world and introduced to the market the previous year. Awards are based on each achievement's technical significance, uniqueness, and usefulness compared to competing projects and technologies.

Dr Mebs Surve, Business Development Manager at Paraytec said “Having recently won the Pittcon 2007 Silver Award, one of the most important international technology awards in the laboratory instrumentation and scientific equipment sector, we are thrilled at having now been awarded this additional prestigious award – the R&D 100. This further underlines the significance of our technology.”

Based in York, North Yorkshire, the dynamic young company is a spin out from the University of York’s Chemistry Department.  Their award-winning product, the ActiPix™, is the world’s first ultraviolet area imaging detector.

Dr Surve added “Our detector is receiving extremely positive reviews from its early adopters. We are also receiving significant interest from major instrument companies with a view to incorporating our technology into their next generation products. Our invention significantly improves upon existing UV detector technologies for capillaries. It overcomes some of the fundamental obstacles restricting sensitivity, throughput and user friendliness of current instrumentation. In a nutshell, the ActiPix™ is flexible, future proof and will change the way scientists use nanoscale UV detection for years to come.”

Product design and manufacture has been a team effort, and Paraytec have been working in partnership with local company GSPK Design Ltd, based in Knaresborough, and Glo Design, based in Silkstone.

Professor David Goodall, Director and Chief Scientific Officer of Paraytec, said “GSPK Design Ltd have been instrumental in getting the ActiPix™ ready for market.  From day one we have considered GSPK Design to be an extension of our company.  Significant input on all aspects of our R&D and transfer to production has enabled us to put together a robust, well engineered and high performance instrument for use in the analytical and life science market. The prestige of an R&D 100 award will help open international doors for Paraytec, so this is great news for the company in helping us to build a comprehensive global distributor network.”

The awards competition, sponsored by UK Trade & Investment, showcases high-growth biotechnology businesses from across the UK. Paraytec was selected by regional development agency Yorkshire Forward to represent the Yorkshire and Humber region following the succesful launch of its ActiPix™ D100 instrument to international markets. Paraytec used support from UKTI to assist in planning a structured approach to the international launch of its technology, which was acknowledged as being globally significant and likely to quickly attract the attention of export markets. The approach was rewarded in March 2007 when the ActiPix™ detector received international acclaim in being recognised as one of the most significant new scientific instruments launched in the last year, with the Pittcon 2007 Editors' Choice Silver Award for best new products. Paraytec took advantage of the ensuing global publicity to appoint a distributor network and raise its profile with key target markets including life sciences and biopharmaceutical organisations.

Professor David Goodall, founder and CSO of Paraytec, will represent the company during the competition rounds. For the 2007 Awards Ceremony, the stakes have been raised by the introduction of an 'Elevator Pitch' round. Nominated companies from the 12 UK regions will each present a 90-second pitch to a judging panel of highly experienced biotech and pharma individuals, chaired by Dr Ian Gibson, MP, who are charged with deciding which three companies go through to the semi-finals for each Award. Winners will be decided in a final round of 10 minute presentations.

Paraytec featured alongside Doug Richard of BBC's Dragons' Den at an event aimed at exploring the secrets behind taking innovation to market. CEO Carolyn Parkinson shared Paraytec's experience of technology business growth at the meeting on 23 May before introducing Doug Richard as key note speaker.

"Taking Innovation to Market" was organised by the Yorkshire Science and Technology Network (YSTN) and attracted over 170 delegates to the Old Swan Hotel in Harrogate, UK.

Carolyn told the story of Paraytec's establishment, and highlighted the hard work, nerve, and commitment required to bring a new innovation to market.

Doug then related his experiences of both successful and unsuccessful ventures, as well as his time on the BBC television series Dragons' Den. Doug revealed that his strategy on the show was to focus on finding a fatal flaw in potential investments the Dragons were asked to consider, and if he couldn't find one, he would invest.

Carolyn Parkinson commented: "It was a real pleasure to meet Doug Richard and compare perspectives on innovation. He was very complimentary about Paraytec as a business, which was a great endorsement to receive from such a respected and high profile entrepreneur."

Doug Richard is the founder and Chairman of Library House, founder and Vice-Chairman of Cambridge Angels, and Chairman of Hotxt. He has over 20 years experience of innovative business ventures. Doug appeared on the first two series of Dragons' Den, a highly successful BBC series which offers start up businesses the opportunity to appear in front of a fierce panel of investors to pitch their idea and seek investment.

The YSTN is a network for science and technology businesses, and is supported by Yorkshire Forward as part of the Knowledge Rich programme. More information on YSTN is available at www.ystn.co.uk, and further information about the event can be found on the link below.

Photo courtesy of Yorkshire Forward

Paraytec - a high-tech developer of scientific instruments based in York has been recognised by UK Trade and Investment (UKTI) and Yorkshire Forward for its export efforts.

The company, which has developed a cutting edge tool for analysing tiny samples of life science materials, received the award in Leeds last night after it undertook extensive research and training in order to prepare for exporting their product.

Whilst their ‘ActiPix’ was still in development, the company recognised that their key markets would be Europe and the US, and therefore undertook customer research and training with UKTI that ensured they were fully prepared for exporting.

As a result of their foresight, and participation in the UKTI Passport to Export Scheme, the company have already secured distributors in Europe and won a prestigious award at the world’s largest scientific instrumentation conference in Chicago.

Grants from the Targeted Export Support Scheme, supported by Yorkshire Forward, also allowed the company to visit potential customers and promote their product to new markets.   

The awards were hosted by Yorkshire Forward and UKTI to celebrate the export success of companies involved with the Passport to Export and Targeted Export Support Schemes, which aim to help companies either start to export or grow their existing export sales or markets.

Speaking at the event, where they received their award from Michelle Mone, serial entrepreneur and developer of the Ultimo bra range, Mebs Surve of Paraytec commented; “We are absolutely delighted to received this award and grateful for the support that we have received from Alistair Gardner – our trade advisor.  Without TESS support we wouldn’t have been able to put on such a good show when we took our product to the States.”

Simon Hill, Executive Director of Business at Yorkshire Forward adds;

“Companies in Yorkshire and Humber have traditionally looked to trade within the region.  Whilst a strong domestic market is important for economic growth, diversity is vital to companies’ stability and growth.

“Paraytec have demonstrated that, with a little research and export support, the opportunities for export success are huge.”

UKTI Regional International Trade Director Mark Robson concluded;

“This years winners show the impressive range of companies  working in the Yorkshire & Humber region, and the diversity of entrepreneurial spirit which drives their founders.  These awards have rewarded an established, major employer; a translation company founded only three years ago and a technology company which is harnessing the research talent of one of our leading universities.   They demonstrate that with UKTI’s expert advice and its global support network behind them, companies can expand their international business faster, further and smarter.”

York, UK-based scientific instrument company, Paraytec, has shot to global attention with the announcement that it has won one of the most important international technology awards in its sector. Paraytec’s ActiPix UV detection instrument was awarded the Pittcon 2007 Editors’ Choice Silver Award when it was featured as a new product at the world’s largest meeting for laboratory instrumentation and scientific equipment, held last week in Chicago.

The annual Pittcon meeting attracts over 20,000 attendees from more than 85 countries and is the premier exposition for launching new scientific instruments to the world stage. Over the four day meeting a panel of more than 150 editors from international scientific publications assess the new technology on offer from over 1,000 exhibiting companies, and votes on the products considered to be the most significant and important technology advances of the year. The editors’ panel presented Paraytec with the Silver Award, commenting that the ActiPix was a “novel and innovative product” that “transcended” boundaries in its contribution to life and analytical sciences.

Dr Mebs Surve, Paraytec’s Business Development Manager, said "We were literally speechless when we realised we had won the Pittcon Silver Award. This is global recognition at the highest level, confirming our belief in the importance of the technology. The message is that, of all the new scientific and analytical instruments launched in the last year, the ActiPix is considered to be one of the most significant in contributing technology advances which will impact scientific instruments of the future."

The editors’ panel gave the Gold award to $1 Billion American company Waters Corporation, and equal Silver to Paraytec alongside Thermo Fisher Scientific, a global corporation with an annual turnover of $9 Billion. Paraytec’s founder and CSO, Professor David Goodall, commented: “This award puts our technology up with that of the world’s largest blue chip scientific companies, which is an astounding achievement.”

Paraytec’s CEO, Carolyn Parkinson, said “For a small company from Yorkshire to have its first product voted number two in the world demonstrates the importance of this technology on the global stage. We are looking forward to taking advantage of the intense international attention to grow our sales and distribution, and particularly to progressing our international collaborations.”

The Pittcon Award follows closely on the heels of Paraytec’s recent success at Venturefest Yorkshire, where it was awarded the GSPK New Product Award after the ActiPix was judged the best innovative new product with high growth potential developed by a Yorkshire company.

The ActiPix D100 is currently in early stage sales to end users and development partners in the UK, USA and Europe. The technology is already opening up important new applications and is literally changing the face of UV absorbance detection, one of the most widely used analytical techniques in the world. Jim Lenke of protein sample preparation instrument company Protea Biosciences in West Virginia has been using the ActiPix for several months and has been "astounded" by its capabilities. Dr Lenke commented "This is a detector with so much potential that it is bound to have an impact on key discoveries for years to come."

The award was judged by editors of scientific publications reporting on the conference, which was held this year in Chicago with an attendance of over 20,000 people. Paraytec competed against the world's largest scientific instrument companies to emerge with the Silver award in recognition of the genuine technology advances of its ActiPix capillary-based miniature UV detection system.

Paraytec's CEO, Carolyn Parkinson, said: "We have always believed that Paraytec's technology was capable of making a major global impact. With this award we have achieved world-class recognition of the real significance of this invention and its potential future role in analytical detection instrumentation. This is a major achievement for a small company, and the whole team is thrilled."

The ActiPix D100 is currently in early stage sales to end users and development partners. The technology is already opening up important new applications and is literally changing the face of UV absorbance detection. Jim Lenke of Protea Biosciences in West Virginia has been using the detector for several months and has been "astounded" by its capabilities. Dr Lenke commented "This is a detector with so much potential that it is bound to have an impact on key discoveries for years to come."

The report evaluates a novel miniature capillary UV imaging detector (ActiPix^® D100) on a range of nanolitre scale enzyme assays which could be used for rapid and cost effective evaluation of biocatalytic activity and characterisation of biochemical samples. 

The authors demonstrate how the lab-on-capillary approach using the ActiPix^® D100 allows multiplexed detection of reactions and electrophoretic separations meaning that different concentrations of an enzyme can be assayed in parallel, increasing throughput and work efficiency.  Using examples of reactions catalysed by enzymes immobilised onto beads within or on the surface of the capillary wall the technique is shown to be readily applicable to proteomic studies (protein digestion and separation) and early stage screening in drug discovery.

The report concludes by comparing the lab-on-capillary technique with lab-on-a-chip methods.  While both offer miniaturisation of a wide range of procedures the lab-on-capillary technique, using the ActiPix^® D100, offers higher resolution separations of complex mixtures, is inherently more affordable being based upon readily available fused silica capillaries and connectors and is much more easily integrated with other devices (pumps, detectors, power supplies).

The ActiPix^® D100 miniature UV imaging area detector is the world's first miniature multiplexed capillary UV area detector.  Using an active pixel area sensor to capture measurements imaging of single or multiple capillaries is readily achieved on a single sensor, unlike current commercial UV detectors. Using a capillary, as combined sample vessel and optical element, the ActiPix^® D100 detector provides inherent spatial separation of sample and reference beams - the result - a unique self-referencing system in a miniature format.  Allowing minute (picolitre to nanolitre) volumes to be measured with high sensitivity, without sacrificing spatial resolution, the ActiPix^® D100 is an ideal detector for capillary LC and CE systems. 

For a copy of the technical applications report ‘Lab-on-Capillary: A versatile format for nanolitre scale chemistry & biochemistry and further information on the ActiPix^® D100 miniature UV imaging area detector please contactParaytec Ltd. on +44-1904-526270 or email info@paraytec.com.

The ActiPix D100 imaging detector is a novel scientific instrument developed for use in analytical and life sciences applications. It is the first product to incorporate Paraytec’s ground breaking detection technology -  a patented miniaturised analytical detection system for liquid samples which is a significant advance over existing analytical techniques.

Carolyn Parkinson, Paraytec CEO, said "We are absolutely thrilled that the ActiPix detector has been recognised by this prestigious award. We are so proud to have developed this globally significant technology right here in Yorkshire. Throughout the development of the ActiPix, from prototype to production versions, we have benefited greatly from the excellent, high-tech development and manufacturing providers in the region."

The ActiPix D100 uses capillaries the width of a human hair to carry tiny liquid samples through a beam of UV light, then captures and processes the images using an Active Pixel Sensor similar to the technology used in digital cameras and mobile phones. The detector allows scientists to “see” a complex reaction taking place in real time and to quantify the components. It provides very high sensitivity, and requires 1000 times less sample than existing techniques, making it ideal for high value samples such as biopharmaceuticals.

The award highlights a recent period of success for Paraytec. In June last year the ActiPix D100 was launched at the HPLC2006 conference in San Francisco last year and has since attracted a great deal of interest internationally. The product is currently in early stage sales to customers in the UK, USA and Europe. The technology has also been selected to feature as a new product at Pittcon2007, the world’s largest meeting for scientific instrument technology. The meeting is taking place in Chicago later this month, where the ActiPix will be judged for the international Editor’s Choice Award for New Technology.

Paraytec’s unique technology arose from academic research undertaken by analytical scientist Professor David Goodall, who led the spin-out of the company from the University of York in 2005.

The ActiPix D100 is a novel scientific instrument developed for use in analytical and life sciences applications. It is the first product to incorporate Paraytec’s ground breaking detection technology -  a patented miniaturised analytical detection system for liquid samples which is a significant advance over existing analytical techniques.

The ActiPix D100 uses capillaries the width of a human hair to carry tiny liquid samples through a beam of UV light, then captures and processes the images using an Active Pixel Sensor similar to the technology used in digital cameras and mobile phones. The detector allows scientists to “see” a complex reaction taking place in real time and to quantify the components. It provides very high sensitivity, and requires 1000 times less sample than existing techniques, making it ideal for high value samples such as biopharmaceuticals.

The ActiPix D100 was launched at the HPLC2006 conference in San Francisco last year and is currently in early stage sales to customers in the UK, USA and Europe. The ActiPix technology has attracted a great deal of interest internationally, and is also being featured as a new product at Pittcon2007, the world’s largest meeting for scientific instrument technology. The meeting is taking place in Chicago later this month, where the ActiPix will be judged for the international Editor’s Choice Award for New Technology.

Venturefest Yorkshire is a major UK event for fast-growing technology businesses. The one day event takes place at York Racecourse on Wednesday 7 February and attracts thousands of technology entrepreneurs, business people, and investors. The GSPK New Product Award seeks to reward an innovative new product with high growth potential, which has been developed by a Yorkshire-based company. The winner will be announced at the Venturefest gala dinner.

Carolyn Parkinson, Paraytec CEO, said "We are thrilled that the ActiPix detector has been selected for final judging in this prestigious award. Paraytec is proud to have developed this globally significant technology right here in Yorkshire. Throughout the development of the ActiPix, from prototype to production versions, we have benefited greatly from the excellent, high-tech development and manufacturing providers in the region."

Venturefest Yorkshire takes place on 7 February 2007 at York Racecourse, York, UK. Paraytec will be exhibiting in the New Product area during the meeting, where the ActiPix D100 will be on display.

The technology showcase has been organised jointly by Connect Yorkshire and Bioscience York to highlight companies from the Yorkshire region with exceptional technology of relevance to the bioscience community. Professor David Goodall, Paraytec's CSO, and Carolyn Parkinson, CEO, will jointly present Paraytec's technology advances and business approach in a bid to be judged the company with the most exciting proposition.

Paraytec previously presented at the White Rose Bioscience Forum in November 2004, which directly resulted in the company securing over £170k of investment through investor contacts who were impressed with the potential of the technology presented at the time.

Carolyn Parkinson said "It is a real honour for Paraytec to be invited to participate in the showcase two years after its first appearance at the meeting. The success of securing investment following our previous presentation means that we are very happy to return and update the forum on how far the business has progressed in the interim - with the successful launch of our ActiPix D100 imaging detector being a particular highlight."

The White Rose Bioscience Forum takes place over two days from 31st October - 1st November at CSL Laboratories, Sand Hutton, near York, UK.  Paraytec will also be exhibiting during the meeting.

Paraytec will be exhibiting at this meeting and Professor David Goodall will will be presenting 'A new miniature UV imaging detector based upon active pixel technology: Applications with Single and Multiple Capillary Separations' and 14:40 on 21st November.