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There are many different industries that use Whitley Workstations but the recent installation of a second Whitley M35 Microaerobic Workstation in Wageningen, The Netherlands, is quite unique. IMEC OnePlanet Research Center is a multidisciplinary collaboration agreement between Wageningen University & Research (WUR), Radboud University, Radboudumc and IMEC. They use the latest chip and digital technologies to create a society in which everyone can live a healthy life and have access to healthy and sustainable food.
IMEC OnePlanet Research Center purchased their first M35 Workstation in 2021 and have this year added a second unit. The organisation is involved in creating sensing technology to be applied in two domains: 1) Health, Nutrition, & Behaviour and 2) Agriculture, Food, & Environment.
Rachel Armstrong, Researcher at IMEC, explained, “These sensors need to function in unique environments – within the human body, bathrooms, farms, greenhouses, etc. Therefore, we mimic these specific environmental conditions (gas content, temperature, and humidity) within our M35s.
Accurately mimicking our final testing environment has allowed us to troubleshoot problems with our sensors long before they reach their final application. It saves us significant time and design iterations.”
In their latest workstation, the team have found some features especially useful, particularly the removable front and the cable ports. Rachel added, “Our electronic setups are complex and often large. These features allow a lot of flexibility in our experimental design.
Additionally, the oxygen profiling feature and the ability of the entire chamber to reach body temperature have been essential in designing ingestible sensors (ie smart pills). We can mimic the transit of our smart pills throughout the gastrointestinal tract by adjusting the oxygen content over time at 37°C.”
At OnePlanet Research Center, they initiate fundamental and applied research, groundbreaking innovations and smart product applications. This is only possible by using and bringing together great ideas, innovations and chip and digital technologies from different disciplines, working closely together with industry and academia.
Don Whitley Scientific is proud to have provided two workstations to be used in this exciting application.
For further information, please contact our sales team on sales@dwscientific.co.uk or telephone +44 (0) 1274 595728.
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