Save Money + Reduce Waste
No additional consumables
are required to run or maintain
the system.
Maintain Ingredient Integrity
Closed containers prevent contamination, evaporation, and the release of fumes.
Build Complex Screens
Use up to 34 ingredients to create custom screens to fit your experiment needs.
Build Crystallization Screens with Ease
Crystallization hit optimization and custom screen creation are integral parts of crystallographic workflows. The Formulator® is a specialized microfluidic liquid dispenser to create macromolecular crystallization screens. It can dispense up to 34 different ingredients. A 96-nozzle dispensing chip can dispense any volume of any ingredient of any viscosity into any well. It has broad viscosity compatibility necessary to handle various ingredients found in commercial screens.
Flexible Liquid Dispensing
- Low volumes, down to 200 nL with no upper limit
- Dispense a 100 μL, 3-ingredient, 96-well crystallization grid in 2.7 mins
- Supports all SBS-sized plates, VDX/Linbro plates and deep well blocks
Easy Operation
- Integrated barcode scanner automatically loads experiment and ingredient data
- Bottle sensors know where ingredients are located
- Design, Barcode, Scan, and Run
- The only screen builder integrated with Rock Maker® - Crystallization Software
"My supervisor is already impressed that our analysts have hit the ground running with the Rock Imager and have been generating data much faster. Our group workload is increasing and we would like to complement our Rock Imager and Formulator with the NT8 so move our crystallization projects along even faster, and also become a showcase lab for you…we’ve also doubled our throughput in a few short months thanks to Formulatrix!"
William Wittbold
Director of Technical Operations
Dispense Viscous and Non-Viscous Ingredients
At the core of the Formulator is a patented microfluidic chip that measures and dispenses discrete volumes of liquid. The chip has 96 outputs, each with its own microfluidic valve cluster. Each valve cluster has two micro-diaphragms (200 nL and 2.5 µL) that fill and dispense up to three times per second. By combining multiple dispenses of each micro-diaphragm, the Formulator can dispense any volume down to 200 nL.
"We buy a lot of products for Formulatrix such as Rock Imager (both 4c system and RT system), Formulator and NT8 for protein crystallization when using this machine we do face some problems and once I even want to return them back but people from Formulatrix always try their best to solve the problems. Finally, I think Formulatrix is really a responsible company and they always try their best to serve the customers. More important, the products are easy using."
Easily Create Screens with Up to 34 Ingredients
Models to Fit Your Budget and Workflow
The Formulator comes in 3 different models based on the number of ingredients you need to create your crystallization screens. The systems support both 125 mL and 250 mL Nalgene bottles, as well as, 50 mL conical tubes. All of the models have the same physical size and offer an optional secondary wash input for other wash solutions.
Easy Ingredient Switching
Adding ingredients is as easy as scanning the reagent barcode and inserting the bottle (with a specialized check-valve cap) into any open input on the top of the Formulator. Bottle sensors tell the system where you positioned each reagent automatically, eliminating user error.
Formulator 34
"The Formulatrix robotics in our lab facilitates incredible speed and versatility in our operation. The modularity of the platform enabled us to start with a Rock Imager and to scale up as our needs grew. We now have the full suite of PC products (Rock Maker, Formulator, NT8, and Rock Imagers 54 and 360), and it has been instrumental in scaling our throughput to match the needs of our growing organization."
User-Friendly Software
The Formulator software provides a straightforward, user-friendly way to run even the most complicated dispensing protocols through a visual representation of your plate that displays each ingredient’s dispense volume and well location.
Design dispenses that vary the volume of each reagent to every well on the plate, dispense the same volume to every well, and add a backfill if necessary.
Rock Maker Integration
Quickly design experiments using the Rock Maker Crystallization Software. Rock Maker can provide a barcode to print and label your plate with. To run the dispense list, simply scan the plate label using the integrated barcode scanner before placing the plate on the Formulator's plate holder. The dispense design will automatically load and you're ready to run the dispense.
Simply Design, Barcode, Scan, and Run
Gradient Layer Optimization Screen
Random Layer Dispensing