NanoKTN Claims Role in NanoFibre Measurement Achievement
UK-based publicly-funded micro- and nanotechnology networking group NanoKTN has announced that it has helped nanofibre celll scaffold manufacturer The Electrospinning Company, also based in the UK, to improve its measurement of electrospun nanofibres to be able to access new markets such as the pharmaceutical and drug discovery research markets.
The Electrospinning Company Limited, a spin out from the UK’s Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), designs and manufactures electrospun nanofibre scaffolds that support the growth of cells in 3D. Uniquely in Europe, the company designs and manufactures high quality products from biocompatible polymers for use in regenerative medicine, stem cell therapeutics, and drug discovery.
The Electrospinning Company attended the NanoKTN’s Nanofibres to Nanocomposites event to present and promote the company’s technology and services, and met with Phenom-World who was presenting on new possibilities for automated analyses of nanofibers, and showcasing the company’s electron microscope and fibermetric application.
Ann Kramer, CEO at The Electrospinning Company, explained: “The NanoKTN plays an invaluable role in connecting businesses and is critical to the development of a more complete supply chain. By attending the event, we were able to meet Phenom-World who impressed us with their fibermetric application and its ability to measure very accurately the nanofibre diameter, enabling us to produce highly consistent materials for our clients.”
“We use electrospinning to produce nano and micro fibre scaffolds that are ideal for growing cells in 3D, and we needed to measure the diameters of these nanofibres to a higher degree of accuracy, to ensure that our scaffolds are highly consistent in format for our industrial and academic clients. The highly consistent nature of our materials makes them useful for research groups in the exacting markets of regenerative medicine and drug discovery, and using the fibermetric application we can guarantee our pharmaceutical customers that the materials are consistent and reproducible.”
Jeroen Smulders, application engineer from Phenom-World, global supplier of desktop scanning electron microscopes and imaging solutions, added, “In combination with the Phenom G2 pro desktop scanning electron microscope, the fibermetric application enables companies to generate hundreds of accurate and consistent measurements in seconds, guaranteeing a fast return on investment. The NanoKTN event was the ideal platform for us to showcase our technology to the UK’s nanotechnology market. Our solution offered The Electrospinning Company the accurate and reproducible automated measurements that they needed, that previously had been time consuming and labour intensive.”
Dr Barry Park, Theme Manager at the NanoKTN commented: “The aim of the NanoKTN is to bring together all members of the supply chain from end users and manufacturers, to research bodies and academia, to facilitate information exchange and form new collaborations to generate innovative solutions to performance issues using nanotechnology. We’re delighted that following our events, companies are working together to deliver real solutions to increase performance and commercial success in the UK nanotechnology industry.”
Established by the Technology Strategy Board, the NanoKTN is managed by Centre for Process Innovation Ltd, a leading technology development and consulting company.