History

In 1995 the single channel cuvette based SPR system (IBIS I) of IBIS Technologies was launched. Because at that time IBIS sensor chips were provided with a standard gold surface only, the instrument was compatible with the Biacore sensor chip. In 1997, the IBIS II, a two-channel cuvette-based SPR instrument with autosampler operation was introduced. In three years time about 30 instruments of IBIS I and II were sold which was followed by a merger with the sensor chip coating company (SSens B.V.) in 1999. 


The old IBIS II instrument with autosampler

In 2000 the start of the development of a new SPR imaging instrument (so-called IBIS-iSPR) was initiated after getting a grant from the European Union. (IST PAMELA project). In 2003 a first prototype of the imaging SPR instrument of IBIS Technologies was introduced at the Sense of Contact in Wageningen, The Netherlands.  The optics was developed to image a surface area of 7x7 mm to obtain a microscopic SPR view of the surface. The quality of the optics was good in fixed angle position and regions of interest of 30 micrometers square were feasible, so theoretically more than 10.000 interactions could be monitored simultaneously.

However various critical parts had still to be developed in order to get the instrument in balance in terms of optics, fluidics, sensor surfaces and spotting. Several PhD students worked with the first versions of IBIS-iSPR instruments (see IBIS-publication list) and the instrument improved further. In 2007 the first paper of the IBIS-iSPR instrument was published in JACS and new SPRint Software developments were initiated. The advanced SPR dip measurements of user-selected regions of interests and the microscopic view of the image allows reliable and accurate data acquisition for multi analyte kinetic studies. In 2008 it was decided to build a new instrument, the IBIS-MX96 using modern hardware (optics, camera, etc.) The new data acquisition software Tri-angle using templates and a new user interface for generating high-quality sensorgrams was developed. The fluidics is now exclusively flow cell based and valveless injection was applied which is unique with respect to classical operation using injection loops. In 2009 a strategic alliance with Wasatch Microfluidics resulted in unmatched performance of the instrument in combination with CFM spotting. (list of CFM publications)  The hardware improvements resulted in a sensitivity gain of at least a factor of 20 with respect to the IBIS-iSPR instrument. In 2010 some extended patent applications were finalized and the first instrument was delivered November 25th, 2010.