Oxford Nanopore's proprietary nanopore-based sensing chemistries are operated on an electronics-based platform, the GridION system. This enables the scaled-up measurements of multiple nanopores and the sensing, processing and analysis of data in real time.
A single instrument, a GridION node, operates with a single-use cartridge that contains the necessary reagents to perform an experiment.
Scalability
A node can be employed as a single desktop instrument, or scaled up in a similar way to computing installations.
As a desktop instrument for the individual researcher, it can write data to the network or a locally attached disc (directly through a USB or through a network) and work in a small lab.
Each node is a network device and multiple nodes can be aggregated together into larger co-operating units or clusters, communicating with each other in a peer-to-peer fashion over the user's network. The system is designed to interface, or even co-locate, with standard or high-performance IT infrastructure. Workflow overheads, and total costs, including IT, scale linearly with the GridION system.
graphic: a single node (left) may be used as a desktop device, or installed in conjunction with other nodes that communicate with each other through a network (centre, right).
| A single node as a desktop installation | Nodes may be clustered through a network for larger throughput installations | Each GridION node operates with a single dispoable cartridge. |
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