HP (HPQ) Unveils Drug Discovery Inkjet Printer Technology

Hewlett-Packard's (NYSE:HPQ) Specialty Printing Systems division has developed a High-Performance Digital Dispensing System based on its inkjet technology that will empower biologists to develop and test medications at more precise dosages than traditional analog methods to combat illnesses.

HP Specialty Printing Systems licenses thermal inkjet technology to allow companies to integrate the technology into their industrial platforms, HP reports.

The Digital Dispensing System includes a hardware dispenser resembling a printer, a repurposed printhead and digital titration software.

With thermal-inkjet chips the size of a pen tip, biologists can measure how much of a drug is necessary to save healthy cells from those that are disease-ridden, Kevin Peters, senior technologist for high-performance dispensing at HP Specialty Printing Systems, told eWEEK.

HP has posted a video of its digital titration process on its Web site. Titration is a common laboratory method for determining the concentration of chemical compounds such as medications.




Source