FAQs

Microfluidics, the OEM of Microfluidizer^® high shear fluid processors, is a leader in the design and production of laboratory and commercial processing equipment used in the production of micro- and nano-scale materials for pharmaceutical, biotech, chemical and diverse industries.

Microfluidizer^® technology enables some of the world’s top companies to create superior products, develop intellectual property, improve process efficiency and capitalize on new applications. We set the standard for nanoemulsion and nanoparticle processing.

Microfluidizer^® technology combines a constant pressure pumping system with fixed geometry Interaction Chambers^TM, to deliver consistent, high shear rates and impact forces, which enables our customers to achieve unparalleled process results.

Product enters the system via the inlet reservoir and is pulled into a constant pressure pumping system which pushes the material through a fixed geometry Interaction Chamber™ at pressures of up to 30,000psi (2068 bar). All material receives the same treatment to achieve consistent, uniform results. After passing through the Interaction Chamber, the product temperature can be controlled.

Microfluidics has a global network of Sales Managers, Field Service Engineers, and Sales Representatives around the world.  This team of highly trained experts can answer your questions and work with you to specify the best Microfluidizer^® processor for your application.

Our headquarters and state-of-the-art application laboratory are located in Westwood, Massachusetts, USA. Please contact us to meet your local sales and support team.

Microfluidics offers exceptional Engineering Sales, Applications, Installation, Aftermarket and Customer Support service to our clients around the world.

Our Field Service, Engineering, and Applications Team members are readily accessible to visit your location to offer guidance on your process's specific requirements, deliver comprehensive technical support, and suggest and execute expert maintenance on your system.

Microfluidizer^® technology achieves small particle sizes and uniform particle size distributions with batch-to-batch repeatability and guaranteed scale up from lab to production scale.

No other high-pressure processor is capable of generating the shear levels routinely achieved by our Microfluidizer^® technology. This intense, precisely controlled shear enables efficient cell disruption, enhanced encapsulation, and highly effective emulsification and dispersion across a wide range of applications. This level of control helps improve product stability, bioavailability, texture, and appearance, while reducing waste and rework.

From early-stage development through to full-scale manufacturing, Microfluidizer^® Processors help you shorten time to market, de-risk scale-up, and maintain consistent quality worldwide.

The Microfluidics product line offers cGMP solutions, which are well accepted by pharmaceutical regulatory agencies around the world.

Microfluidics offers a wide range of Microfluidizer^® Processors, capable of processing batch sizes as small as a 30 mL up to 900 liters per hour.

Our range of Microfluidizer^® Processors is capable of handling everything from early-stage development to full-scale manufacturing. This scalable portfolio allows you to prove your process at lab scale, then move seamlessly to pilot and manufacturing volumes while maintaining the same particle size, performance, and product quality.

Microfluidizer^® processors scale up by applying the same controlled shear profile across increasing flow rates and volumes.

This differentiates Microfluidizer^® technology from other high-pressure technologies because it delivers not only repeatable results from batch to batch, but also true, linear scalability from lab environments through to pilot and full production volumes. The process conditions you optimize on a benchtop system can be confidently transferred to larger units, reducing development risk, shortening scale-up timelines, and helping you bring products to market faster.

This performance is enabled by our patented Interaction Chamber™ design. Within each chamber, precision-engineered microchannels are aligned in parallel so that every portion of the product follows the same controlled path and experiences the same processing conditions. These multi-slotted Interaction Chambers ensure that the entire product stream is exposed to identical, intense shear, even at higher flow rates.

The result is highly consistent quality, with tight particle size distributions and stable product characteristics maintained as you increase throughput.

Microfluidizer^® technology delivers more uniform shear, tighter particle size distributions, and more efficient scale-up than high-pressure homogenizers and other processing technologies.  

Because they are used on similar applications — albeit with dramatically different results — Microfluidizer^® processors are often compared with conventional homogenizers.

The Microfluidizer^® technology platform (distinguished by the fixed geometry Interaction Chamber^TM) generates a uniform shear field for particle size reduction and robust cell disruption, with repeatable and scalable results.

This is not possible with even the most effective high-pressure homogenizers, sonicators, or other technologies. Other technologies introduce variable processing conditions, due to variable geometry or their batch type operation. This results in less uniform results, often requiring higher energy levels to even achieve results similar to those achieved with a Microfluidizer^® Processor.

Also, these other technologies often require significant process development changes to achieve scale-up and there is no guarantee that scale-up is even possible.

In technologies that necessitate the use of such high levels of energy, a certain amount of this energy will dissipate as heat. In certain technologies, that heat can be difficult to control, and there may be a high level of temperature increase and/or variance in the product affecting its quality. However, Microfluidics has designed its equipment with efficient heat exchangers which are placed immediately after the Interaction Chambers™ where the product will face most, if not all, of its temperature rise. This helps to ensure that you are able to maintain your product at the desired temperature.

See the proof in a cell disruption application in this application note.

Microfluidics™ equipment meets global cGMP requirements for pharmaceutical and biotech manufacturing.

Microfluidics™ offers a full range of Microfluidizer^® processors designed specifically for pharmaceutical and biotech applications and engineered for full cGMP compliance. These precision-built systems handle a wide variety of formulations — including nanoemulsions, suspensions, cell disruption, and liposomes — delivering efficient, predictable, and reliable performance.

The core of this performance is our unique fixed-geometry Interaction Chamber™. Only Microfluidizer^® pharmaceutical homogenizers use this component, which ensures that every milliliter of product experiences the same intense, controlled shear forces at high pressure. This delivers tightly controlled, highly predictable homogenization, often in just one or two passes. As a result, our equipment routinely produces smaller particles and much tighter particle size distributions than many other pharmaceutical processing technologies.