Mycometrix changes name to Fluidigm
New name reflects strategic focus on providing novel microfluidic circuitry to advance scientific research
Microfluidic technology developer Mycometrix Corp. (S. San Francisco, CA) has officially changed its name to Fluidigm Corp.
The new name more clearly reflects a strategy focused on enabling, advancing and enhancing successful research with its novel, micropump and valve technology which is used to create miniature fluidic circuits.
"We believe the name Fluidigm better conveys what we do as a company," said Gajus Worthington, President and CEO of Fluidigm.
"At founding, we focused on our technology's ability to manipulate single molecules. Today, we are pleased to see that our proprietary, microfluidic circuitry has unlimited potential to advance the work of scientists and researchers in drug discovery and beyond."
Microfluidics is one of the fastest growing sectors of the life science research market due to its potential to miniaturize, integrate and automate the work of scientists across multiple disciplines.
One of the goals of microfluidics is to facilitate research into areas not possible before, including the study of disease states, such as cancer, on the level of just a single cell.
Fluidigm's platform technology incorporates some of the world's smallest moving parts, which act as fluidic circuits. On-chip pumps and valves enable precise mechanical pumping and switching of minute quantities of fluid—through tubes smaller in diameter than a human hair.
This allows more precision and control flexibility than methods available today, including electrokinetic and pressure-driven flow.
In addition, Fluidigm's combination of software design tools, quick-turnaround prototyping process and modular chip control units enable the Company's scientific customers and collaborators to readily put into practice their own microfluidic solutions.
Biophysicist Stephen Quake, Ph.D. developed the company's core technology at the California Institute of Technology in the late 1990s. Since then, the technology has received national recognition in Science, Nature Biotechnology and the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science for its breakthrough mechanics and its application to single molecule and cell analysis.
Fluidigm, based in South San Francisco, California, is a privately-held microfluidics company dedicated to delivering the promise of microfluidics through the commercialization of its proprietary microfluidic pump and valve technology.
It has taken a novel approach to microfluidics by fabricating microscale pumps and valves directly within flexible rubber chips, allowing complex fluidic schemes to be easily and intuitively implemented.
This fluidic circuitry technology is readily accessible to scientists through innovative software design tools, rapid prototyping, and plug-and-play chip control systems.
Fluidigm's initial customer base is in the drug discovery arena; future applications include the drug delivery, diagnostics, chemical and power markets.
Source: Mycometrix Corp.
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