This tool was developed to efficiently wet biochip sensor surfaces with various liquid solutions to identify the root-cause of obstructing surface residue. The tool consists of a “Carousel” body which holds up to 40 biochip sensors and a “Pool” which is filled with solution. The user inserts biochips into the “Carousel”, dipped into the solution, and dried.

I designed all parts to be CNC machined from Delrin (polyoxymethylene) to ensure inert and chemical resistance to common lab cleaning solutions such as isopropyl alcohol. The "carousel” consists of 4 parts which are disassembled with tweezers for thorough decontamination procedures after use.

We identified that using a stream of filtered air to dry the biochip sensors immediately after submersion instead of passive air drying resulted in virtually no dried surface residuals. This step was later added into the manufacturing process to eliminate surface debris, improving the sensing quality of biochip sensors.