Thermal cycler design and development
The thermal cycler was completely redesigned for Hybaid (now part of Thermo Fisher Scientific) . Significant development was undertaken on the block and heat sink in order to achieve an accurate and uniform temperature, with good speed performance. A sprung heated lid was designed to provide correct lid pressure, as well as to allow different tubes and plates. The ability to allow interchangeable gradient blocks was also incorporated into the design, either a 48 x 0.5ml tube block or a 96 x 0.3ml tube block. The block temperature has a range of between 4°C and 99°C.
Prototyping was a key part of the products development, machining heat sinks and blocks to allow the designs to be fully tested.
The front fascia was designed with hygiene in mind, so it can be easily cleaned. It was designed to provide tactile feedback to the user.
The product was fully engineered in ProENGINEER (3D CAD), working in conjunction with Hybaid’s own design team.
It is chosen by many laboratories that have low throughput and require thermal cycling at sub-ambient temperatures. (Developed whilst employed at Pearson Matthews).