Ergopip: the pipette for a new generation of squirters

My experience of pipettes is limited to (a) using one to remove the cream from a bottle of milk in science class, (b) using one to drop one chemical onto another in science class, and (c) using it to squirt water at classmates in science class.

For those with more legitimate applications at hand, the University of Cambridge's Ergopip is the upgrade path that we never knew needed to exist. From the Department of Engineering :

A redesign of the precision pipette one of the most commonly used laboratory instruments, to address ergonomic issues. While current models satisfy the need for precision and reliability, their design falls a long way short in terms of ease of use. They are entirely thumb-operated and are known to cause cases of repetitive strain injury. The students have designed a comfortable, easy-to-use pipette, the Ergopip, which distributes workload to the user's fingers and is just as precise and reliable as existing versions.

The design team behind it included Jonathan Fraser, Mark Evans, Shu Sun and Rehana Khanam.

Design page [CAM via Medgadget]

[#1 posted by dssstrkl , July 20, 2008 9:58 PM]

Me want!!! Eppendorf is way more responsible for my carpal tunnel than Nintendo ever was.

[#2 posted by Rob Beschizza , July 20, 2008 10:07 PM]

CHEMIST!

[#3 posted by musicalwoods , July 21, 2008 12:50 AM]

I want! I used a micropipetter 200 times today, and my thumb is killing me.

[#4 posted by Soon Lee , July 21, 2008 1:20 AM]

Hmmm, reducing repetitive strain is good. But I wonder if the new design is as easy as the old in terms of directing the pipette tip into target vessel, especially if trying to pipette into small tubes. I'd like one to try first.

[#5 posted by VSC , July 21, 2008 1:23 AM]

It's only an "upgrade path you never knew needed to exist" simply because you don't use one daily for a living. Let me tell you, press one of those plungers 800 times per day for a few months, and you too can awaken in the night in pain.

I hope someone starts manufacturing those, it'd be awesome. Even better, those in multichannel.

[#6 posted by kattw , July 21, 2008 6:39 AM]

Hmm, I dunno. I've never found the horizontal-hold style pipettors even remotely comfortable to use. On the other hand, if they released a more normal vertical hold device with a finger push button, that might be tempting to try.

[#7 posted by ichem , July 21, 2008 8:15 AM]

A different style of these has been sold for the last few years by VistaLab. The only reason we have not switched in our lab is the high price.

http://www.ovationpipette.com/

[#8 posted by paulj , July 21, 2008 2:55 PM]

It's nice to see progress in the world of lab equipment, but I was hoping the link from the main page would point to a documentary about a new and improved version of the Pipettes:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=YUgigy4rlzc

[#9 posted by Soon Lee , July 22, 2008 12:51 PM]

KATTW #6 said it better: I don't think the horizontal hold will be as easy to use, but I'm not sure if it's just what I'm used to if if there are ergonomic/anatomical reasons for it.