GADGET WATCH | A Standing Ovation
Studies show that routine use of a pipettor can produce repetitive stress injuries and discomfort in the neck, shoulder, elbow, hand, and wrist. Mt. Kisco, NY-based VistaLab (www.vistalab.com) decided to find out why. The company asked ergonomics experts to study how people use pipettes and to recommend design improvements that could ease the pain. The experts offered four suggestions:
The company then asked a design firm to create a prototype device that would allow users to meet these criteria. The result: VistaLab's Ovation® BioNatural Pipette.
The colorful Ovation line features a nonaxial design, contoured grip, and a low-force, thumb-contoured plunger. Tip acquisition is accompanied by an audible click; the force of tip insertion cocks a mechanism to minimize the effort required to eject the tip. Both fixed- and variable-volume models are available.
--Jeffrey M. Perkel
SOFTWARE WATCH | BioJava Percolates The open-source BioJava project ...
