WPI carries a wide variety of fluid handling tools utilizing different technologies:

• Microinjectors
• Peristaltic pumps
• Syringe pumps
• Pneumatic injectors

The manual microsyringe pump is a convenient tool for precise manual injection of fluid using glass pipettes or similar injection devices. The design allows visual feedback of flow at the pipette tip. They can also be used as a manual micro syringe pump for perfusion or withdrawal of liquids

The PV850 Injector is designed to simplify intracellular injection and a variety of other microinjection tasks. The PV850 uses regulated air pressure for injecting cells with fluid. Injected volumes range from picoliters to nanoliters. The port supplies positive pressure for high-pressure ejection maximum of 8 7PSI.

Designed to simplify intracellular injection and a variety of other micro­in­jec­tion tasks, WPI’s PicoPumps (PV830 and PV820) use precisely regulated pres­sures for se­cur­ing cells and injecting them with fluid. Injected volumes range from picoliters to nanoliters. Separate ports supply positive and negative pressure—pos­i­tive pressure for high-pressure ejection, and suction for supporting the cell or for filling the pipette from the tip. In this quick series, you can see how to setup a PicoPump.

It is not difficult to retrieve the syringe post that has slipped inside the SP or SPLG syringe pump.

The UMP3 UltraMicroPump is easy to configure using the SMARTouch interface. It is pre-programmed for popular microsyringes and allows for user-defined syringe parameters, too. This ensures nearly universal compatibility. You can control up to two pumps, either simultaneously or independently, and the optional foot switch means hands-free operation. You can instantly verify actual injection volume on the graphical display. You can even use the touch screen while wearing gloves.

The UltraMicroPump3 is a versatile microinjection syringe pump designed to support the needs of a busy lab. The UMP3 Microinjector is suitable for delivery of media from nanoliters to milliliters. the UMP3 injecotor’s user interface and system design enables delivery of highly accurate and repeatable injections. The choice for thousands of scientists, it is widely cited in research papers.

With the first approved human gene therapy trial in 1989¹ (Rosenberg, et.al.), gene therapy has come a long way in modern medicine and is making inroads in clinics and the market in general.^2,3 2017 was an important year for gene therapy when Luxurna, the first human gene therapy drug for an inherited retinal dystrophy, was approved by Food and Drug Administration (USA).

The type of pump you choose for your fluid handling will largely depend on your laboratory application. In this article, we will compare the popular pump types.

First, let's consider volumes.

• A milliliter (mL) is one thousandth the volume of a liter (L) or 10^-3L
• A microliter (µL) is one thousandth the volume of a mL (10^-6L)
• A nanoliter (nL) is one thousandth the volume of a µL (10^-9L)
• A picoliter (pL) is one thousandth the volume of a nL (10^-12L)

This is graphically represented at the right. Notice that the mL is one trillion times larger than the picoliter. The table (right) shows that the side of a cube with a volume of 1mL is 1cm long. Likewise, the side of a cube with a volume of 1pL is 10µm long. Just for comparison, it shows that the diameter of a sphere with a volume of 1mL is 1.24cm, and the volume of a sphere with a volume of 1pL is 12.4µm.

A calibrated BLPR2 on the LabTrax24T was used to record the results. This is a plot of both pumps on the #14 tubing at 50 RPM into a 22 gauge needle. The flow is estimated to be 9 ml/min at 50RPM.

Micro4™ from World Precision Instruments is an easy-to-use but very capable controller for WPI's Nanoliter Injector and UMP3 UltraMicropPump.

When it comes to setting up microinjection systems, the options appear endless. The pictures below give some broad suggestions on how you might set up your own system. Keep in mind that many parts are interchangeable depending on your needs or preferences.