Tips of pipettes that are used in a laboratory need to be discarded in order to prevent their re-use and avoid contamination. However, such procedures will soon become a thing of past. IonPlasma has developed a new technology by which the pipette tips can now be reused after just 30 seconds and this can save up to $30,000 per year.

The technology, which uses plasma to clean pipette tips and other fluid holding systems and is called the TipCharger system, has been developed by Mr Paul Hensley and Mr Charles Carney, who co-filed the original patent. The TipCharger system was initially brought to market by Cerionx, a firm established by Mr Hensley. In 2009, Mr Henlsey reacquired exclusive rights to the patents and the designs of the TipCharger product and formed IonField Systems. In January 2013, IonField joined hands with Tekon Biotech, a leading full-service distributor, to researcher laboratories as exclusive distributor in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan.

BioSpectrum connects with Mr Paul Hensley, CEO, IonField Systems, to understand more about the technology and about their focus on the Asia Pacific (APAC) market.

Please explain our readers in detail about your IonPlasma technology
The term plasma was first adopted by Nobel Prize winning chemist Irving Langmuir in 1927 to describe the properties of gases ionized by high voltage to form free electrons and positive ions in a neutral background gas. Unlike solids, liquids or gases, plasma is electrically conductive and strongly affected by electromagnetic fields. Therefore, plasma is often referred to as the fourth state of matter.

Plasma surface treatment has been widely used in the automotive, aerospace and electronics industries for ultra-fine surface cleaning. For life sciences, our TipCharger system utilizes the patented IonPlasma Technology to instantly break down any contaminants on the surfaces of pipette tips.