In recent years, there have been significant advances in single cell dispensers, which support precise isolation, sorting and dispensing of single cells. Single cell dispensers are valuable for life science and pharma research, as the technique enables the isolation and analysis of individual cells for myriad applications.

In this article, we will compare four of the latest single cell dispensers from companies such as HP, Namocell and Cytena. These products were designed to sort and dispense single cells with high precision and viability. We will highlight their features and benefits and how they differ from each other in terms of functionality and feature set.

Single Cell Dispenser	Company	Technology	Features	Applications
D100	HP	Inkjet-based microfluidics	High occupancy, viability and precision, real-time reporting	Drug discovery
Hana and Pala	Namocell	Microfluidics sorting based on fluorescence and light scatter	Single cell dispensing into 96-well or 384-well plates in 1-6 minutes	Antibody discovery, synthetic biology, iPSC and CRISPR cloning, rare cell isolation, single cell genomics
F.SIGHT 2.0	Cytena	Inkjet-based microfluidics with dual imaging system	Dispense cells in 7 minutes (384-well plate), high precision and viability	Antibody discovery, synthetic biology, iPSC and CRISPR cloning, rare cell isolation, single cell genomics
Cyto-Mine	Sphere Fluidics	Microfluidic picodroplet technology	Automated platform for single cell screening, sorting, dispensing, imaging and clone verification. Dispenses cells into 96-well plate in under an hour.	Antibody discovery, cell line development, gene editing

1. D100

First up, the multinational IT company HP recently launched its D100 single cell dispenser in the U.S. This dispenser uses the company’s inkjet-based microfluidics technology to provide single cell analysis with high occupancy, viability and precision. The cell dispenser is suited for use in drug discovery.

The unit can dispense single cells and dispense picoliter through microliter volumes of reagents. The D100 supports real-time reporting.

The D100 is now available in the U.S. HP plans to roll it out globally in the future.

2. Namocell

Namocell’s single cell dispensers use microfluidics to sort and dispense cells based on fluorescence and light scatter. The company’s Hana and Pala devices can dispense single cells into a 96-well plate in one minute or a 384-well plate in six minutes. The Hana device has a single laser while Pala has two.

The microfluidic-based cell dispensers use sterile disposable cartridges for single cell isolation and sorting.

The cell dispensers are suited for a variety of applications, including:

• Antibody discovery.
• Synthetic biology.
• iPSC and CRISPR cloning.
• Rare cell isolation.
• Single cell genomics.

3. F.SIGHT 2.0

The F.SIGHT 2.0 from Cytena uses a dual imaging system to quickly isolate single cells in either 96- or 384-well plates. According to the manufacturer, it can dispense an entire 384-well plate in less than seven minutes.

Similar to HP’s D100 single cell dispenser, Cytena’s F.SIGHT 2.0 uses inkjet-based microfluidics technology to dispense single cells with high precision and viability. Both products can also dispense picoliter to microliter volumes of reagents on the same platform.

The F.SIGHT 2.0 is unique in that it has a dual imaging system that enables it to sort cells based on fluorescence and light scatter. The F.SIGHT 2.0 can also dispense cells faster than the D100, as it can fill a 384-well plate in under 7 minutes, while the D100 takes about 20 minutes.

4. Cyto-Mine

The Cyto-Mine from Sphere Fluidics uses a microfluidic picodroplet technology that isolates, images and dispenses single cells into 96-well plate in less than one hour with high accuracy and viability.

The Cyto-Mine is an automated platform integrating single cell screening, sorting, dispensing, imaging and clone verification. The system uses a microfluidic picodroplet technology to isolate, images and dispenses single cells into 96-well plate in under one hour.

According to Sphere Fluidics, it can be used for antibody discovery, cell line development and gene editing.

The manufacturer launched Cyto-Mine in 2018 as a result of a collaboration with Peak Analysis & Automation.