Instrument development democratises niche techniques by expanding their application space

Techniques and methods power science, without which scientists would be hamstrung by analytical challenges in their fields, and thus, unable to push the boundaries of their research forward. But many techniques include long sequence of manual sample preparation and processing steps prior to analytical measurement. The science and art of instrument development seeks to automate as many of the manual steps into an automated user-friendly workflow augmented with commercial kits that further simplify and democratise the technique. But that is not the end of instrument development; a more important contribution lies in simplifying a technique into its core principles on which different user applications could be contrived. For example, a fairly esoteric method was developed in a laboratory that caught the eye of one of the instrument makers. Scientists and engineers would be part of the due diligence team that preview the documentation, supporting data and scientific publications of this technique. One of the questions that these scientists and engineers would deliberate on would be the core concepts and ideas that underpin the technique, and whether a successful commercial instrument could be developed that is robust, reliable, precise, accurate, and commercially viable. To be successful, the analytical technique must be able to help at least two to three different application areas in different fields. Hence, in general, for a technique to be developed into an instrumented approach, the instrument development process builds on the possibility of using the technique in different applications. Ultimately, the conceptual flow builds on the concepts that underpin the technique, possibility of using the concepts in different application areas, and finally, building an instrumented approach that supports those application areas in different fields. Collectively, conventional wisdom holds that instrument development revolves around simplifying and converting a lab idea into something robust that is user-friendly in the analytical and clinical lab. But, that is only half the story. What is more important is the understanding of the core principles of a new technique, and using that understanding to develop new applications in divergent fields that would provide the basis that supports the commercial success of the new instrumentation.