World’s first portable NMR device to transform on-site diagnostics and screening across industrial, medical and food applications.

WaveGuide Corporation has launched its new WaveGuide Formµla™, the world’s only battery-powered, compact scientific instrument that performs rapid screening and diagnostics of solid and liquid substances spanning an array of markets and applications.

The WaveGuide Formµla™ micro NMR delivers performance as good or better than larger, more costly benchtop NMRs, in a portable, easy-to-use device. This makes it ideal for applications requiring in-situ decision making, including petrochemical, pharmaceutical and consumer product authentication applications. The WaveGuide Formµla™ provides quantitative analysis for a wide range of real-world scenarios—from detecting impurities in lubricants indicative of engine and component wear to authenticating biological therapies and vaccines.

The WaveGuide Formµla™ represents a significant departure from large, expensive, benchtop NMR solutions. In addition to trained operators, benchtop NMR systems can require up to 24 hours for the device and sample to temperature stabilise. The WaveGuide Formµla™ requires minimal user training and little to no sample preparation. After a quick internal calibration, the instrument is ready to use within seconds.

“Until now, the size, cost and complexity of commercially available NMR platforms has limited their use to low volume and niche applications with high fixed costs. From WaveGuide’s founding in 2015, we have worked diligently to change this paradigm, partnering with Harvard University’s Department of Physics to pioneer a new class of micro NMR analyser technology,” said Nelson K. Stacks, CEO and President of WaveGuide Corporation. “The WaveGuide Formµla™ is truly a revolutionary development, opening the door to a range of in-situ applications in healthcare, consumer products and industrial products that were previously impractical or impossible with the existing NMR technology.”

The WaveGuide Formµla™ micro NMR is based on patented technology that enables small, low-cost, inhomogeneous magnets to produce a handheld chemical analyzer based on NMR, amplifying the NMR signal-to-noise by a factor of 10,000. WaveGuide has applied for six additional patents, bolstering the core technology.

WaveGuide performs tests in less than five minutes. Results can be immediately uploaded via secure VPN to the cloud for real-time data gathering and additional analytics; this is ideal for rapid, on-site decisions (e.g. disease outbreaks, alert of counterfeits by region, degradation of field equipment). This analyser is also useful for dilution analytics, validation of expected conjugate mixtures, and determination of impurities in known commercial products and formulations (e.g. food, pharmaceuticals, formulated lubricants). Operators endure little or no sample preparation: Simply draw a  small sample (<30 µL) into the disposable sample cartridge and insert into the device.

WaveGuide Formµla™ is low cost and easy to use: Hardware is relatively inexpensive and truly portable. Novice users can become proficient with minimal training. Applications are built to address specific tasks and workflows. This innovative instrument is selective to the target compound and performs characterisation of the complete formulation down to parts-per-trillion detection levels. (e.g. Is the content of this syringe precisely what it says on the label from the original manufacturer at the expected dosage concentration? What is the viscosity, particulate count, and moisture content in this sample of engine lubricant?).  WaveGuide Formµla™ is compliant for global deployment, designed to ISO 13485:2016 standards as a medical diagnostic device, the platform will be 21CFRpart11 ready and UL and CE certified.