Lumencor Awarded SBIR Grant from the National Institutes of Health to Pursue Development of Novel Light Engine for Bioanalytical Research Applications

Lumencor™, the Oregon-based manufacturer developing light engines for the life sciences, announced today that the company has been awarded a Small Business Innovation Research Grant (SBIR) from the National Institutes of Health*. Lumencor is developing a new light engine designed to assist life science instrument manufacturers, scientists and clinicians by improving the quality of their analytical instruments and their research and diagnostic outcomes.

According to Claudia Jaffe, Ph.D., V.P. of Business Development,“The life science industry is undergoing fundamental change. Researchers are placing greater demand on their analytical equipment for increasingly sensitive and specific analyses. High intensity, low cost light sources are essential to the design of these new instruments. In awarding the SBIR grant to Lumencor, the NIH recognizes Lumencor’s role in innovating a unique light engine that will meet the demand for fast evolving analytical research instruments and diagnostic analyzers.”

Many life science instruments demand a stable source of light. In fact, light sources are so critical to the analytical capability of these instruments that their design and performance can be significantly limited by the light sources they employ. Lasers, arc and tungsten lamps, and LED’s, are the light sources in use today and each has its shortcomings: Too few colors are available from lasers and they are typically expensive. Lamps are hot, large and unstable. LEDs are limited to certain colors with sufficient power. Most importantly, none simultaneously meets the need for the wide spectral range of outputs, high power, color stability and durability. The life sciences industry is rapidly developing tools that uncover the roles of nature’s most important biomarkers: enzymes, proteins, genes. To do so, flexible light sources across the UV-VIS-IR spectrum are essential to qualitative analysis and require new light engine solutions to innovate, diversify and expand the industry.

“Lumencor provides high power, spectrally pure, stable and inexpensive light engines, far exceeding the performance of today’s light sources” stated V.P. of Engineering, Arlie Conner, MSEE.

*“The project described was supported by Grant Number R43GM083481 from the National Institute Of General Medical Sciences. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institute Of General Medical Sciences or the National Institutes of Health.”