This printable micropipette actuates a disposable syringe to an adjustable set-point using an assembly of 3D-printable parts and basic hardware.
Both the 30-300 uL Pipette and the 100-1000 uL Pipette use the same printed parts: body-clip.stl and plunger.stl. In addition a disposable syringe and some additional hardware is used to assemble the pipette.
30-300 uL Pipette:
| Part | Unit Price | Source | Part number |
|---|---|---|---|
| Filament | $1.63 | Makerbot | NA |
| 1 mL Syringe | $0.15 | BD Biosciences | 309628 |
| M3 Bolt, 35 mm | $0.12 | McMaster-Carr | 91287A026 |
| M3 Nut | $0.01 | McMaster-Carr | 90591A121 |
| Spring (2) | $4.14 | McMaster-Carr | 9657K347 |
| Washers (2) | $0.16 | McMaster-Carr | 90107A012 |
| total | $6.21 |
100-1000 uL Pipette:
| Part | Unit Price | Source | Part number |
|---|---|---|---|
| Filament | $1.63 | Makerbot | NA |
| 3 mL Syringe | $0.73 | BD Biosciences | 309657 |
| M3 Bolt, 35 mm | $0.12 | McMaster-Carr | 91287A026 |
| M3 Nut | $0.01 | McMaster-Carr | 90591A121 |
| Spring (2) | $4.14 | McMaster-Carr | 9657K347 |
| total | $6.63 |
Kits can also be ordered from: https://www.gogomicro.com
Assembly: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kmtHi_KYfWw
Operation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2W-8hwV7r3c
For ease of use and to achieve the highest accuracy replace the syringe graduations with the adjusted scale. Print out on a transparency sheet and tape on to the syringe aligning the zero point with the plunger position.
Data from a commercial pipette and our printed pipette with and without the adjusted print-and-paste scale compared to the ISO standard.
100-1000 uL pipette:
| Mean | Systematic Error | % Sys. err. | Random Error | % Rand. err. | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1000 uL | ISO 8655, 100-1000 uL | 1000 | 8.00 | 0.80 | 3.00 | 0.30 |
| Commercial Pipette | 1002.98 | 2.98 | 0.30 | 1.72 | 0.17 | |
| Printed Pipette | 949.29 | -50.71 | -5.07 | 0.60 | 0.06 | |
| Printed Pipette Scale | 1003.57 | 3.57 | 0.36 | 0.89 | 0.09 | |
| 500 uL | ISO 8655, 100-1000 uL | 500 | 8.00 | 1.60 | 3.00 | 0.60 |
| Commercial Pipette | 503.67 | 3.67 | 0.73 | 0.49 | 0.10 | |
| Printed Pipette | 475.99 | -24.01 | -4.80 | 4.75 | 1.00 | |
| Printed Pipette Scale | 503.62 | 3.62 | 0.72 | 1.64 | 0.33 | |
| 200 uL | ISO 8655, 100-1000 uL | 200 | 8.00 | 4.00 | 3.00 | 1.50 |
| Commercial Pipette | 204.61 | 4.61 | 2.30 | 0.15 | 0.07 | |
| Printed Pipette | 186.55 | -13.45 | -6.72 | 1.31 | 0.70 | |
| Printed Pipette Scale | 201.87 | 1.87 | 0.94 | 1.47 | 0.73 | |
| 100 uL | ISO 8655, 100-1000 uL | 100 | 8.00 | 8.00 | 3.00 | 3.00 |
| Commercial Pipette | 104.29 | 4.29 | 4.29 | 1.65 | 1.58 | |
| Printed Pipette | 94.02 | -5.98 | -5.98 | 4.81 | 5.12 | |
| Printed Pipette Scale | 101.00 | 1.00 | 1.00 | 1.05 | 1.04 |
30-300 uL pipette:
| Mean | Systematic Error | % Sys. err. | Random Error | % Rand. err. | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 300 uL | ISO 8655, 30-300 uL | 300 | 4.00 | 1.33 | 1.50 | 0.50 |
| Commercial Pipette | 301.19 | 1.19 | 0.40 | 0.53 | 0.18 | |
| Printed Pipette | 286.91 | -13.09 | -4.36 | 0.42 | 0.15 | |
| Printed Pipette Scale | 299.11 | -0.89 | -0.30 | 0.48 | 0.16 | |
| 200 uL | ISO 8655, 30-300 uL | 200 | 4 | 2 | 1.5 | 0.75 |
| Commercial Pipette | 200.06 | 0.06 | 0.03 | 0.46 | 0.23 | |
| Printed Pipette | 193.40 | -6.60 | -3.30 | 2.86 | 1.48 | |
| Printed Pipette Scale | 200.57 | 0.57 | 0.28 | 0.86 | 0.43 | |
| 50 uL | ISO 8655, 30-300 uL | 50 | 4 | 8 | 1.5 | 3 |
| Commercial Pipette | 49.02 | -0.98 | -1.96 | 0.10 | 0.20 | |
| Printed Pipette | 49.62 | -0.38 | -0.76 | 1.26 | 2.53 | |
| Printed Pipette Scale | 48.73 | -1.27 | -2.54 | 1.11 | 2.27 | |
| 30 uL | ISO 8655, 30-300 uL | 30 | 4 | 13.3 | 1.5 | 5 |
| Commercial Pipette | 29.08 | -0.92 | -3.06 | 0.09 | 0.31 | |
| Printed Pipette | 29.22 | -0.78 | -2.59 | 0.31 | 1.07 | |
| Printed Pipette Scale | 27.78 | -2.22 | -7.41 | 1.37 | 4.93 | |
| 20 uL* | ISO 8655, 30-300 uL | 20 | 4 | 20 | 1.5 | 7.5 |
| Commercial Pipette | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | |
| Printed Pipette | 18.70 | -1.30 | -6.48 | 0.38 | 2.01 | |
| Printed Pipette Scale | 17.94 | -2.06 | -10.29 | 1.87 | 10.42 | |
| 10 uL* | ISO 8655, 30-300 uL | 10 | 4 | 40 | 1.5 | 15 |
| Commercial Pipette | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | |
| Printed Pipette | 11.95 | 1.95 | 19.52 | 0.73 | 6.08 | |
| Printed Pipette Scale | 7.64 | -2.36 | -23.64 | 0.38 | 4.92 |
- these volumes are outside of 30-300 uL but we wanted to show data in this range achievable by the pipette.
Check out our write-up in BioRxiv: http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2017/02/20/109231