TECHNOLOGY LICENSING OPPORTUNITY Novel Ablation Chamber Design Enabling Repeat Use

TECHNOLOGY LICENSING OPPORTUNITY
Novel Ablation Chamber Design Enabling Repeat Use 
A new ablation chamber designed for nuclear samples prevents cross-contamination and enables multiple samples to be housed simultaneously. 
 

Opportunity:   Idaho National Laboratory (INL), managed and operated by Battelle Energy Alliance, LLC (BEA), offers the opportunity to explore a license and/or collaborative research agreement to commercialize this new ablation chamber design. This technology transfer opportunity is part of a dedicated effort to convert government-funded research into job opportunities, businesses, and an improved way of life for the American people.
Overview:        Current ablation chambers are not ideal for nuclear-based samples because they cannot perform multi-sample analyses without cross-contaminating the chamber or requiring a new one after each use. Each chamber is expensive, so replacing it after every analysis can be expensive and not ideal. 
Description:    Researchers at Idaho National Lab have designed a new ablation chamber system that allows for multiple samples to be analyzed simultaneously, without cross-contamination and replacing the chamber after each analysis. This is done through a unique chamber design in addition to liners that are placed within the chamber. These can house up to 6 samples and be fabricated from different materials, even cheap and accessible materials like aluminum. The chamber is designed to be leak-tight and shield workers from unwanted contamination and radiation release. The chamber also includes a small motor to rotate the samples without opening the chamber. 
Benefits:          
•    Ability to work with multiple samples at once without cross-contamination. 
•    Disposable liner is inexpensive to fabricate and allows the chamber to be used multiple times, providing significant cost-savings. 
•    A reduced free volume that allows for the fastest current mapping speeds for nuclear samples, increasing overall throughput three-fold. 
•    Ability to shield samples
•    Leak-tight design. 
Applications:    
•    Ablation Chamber designers and manufacturers looking to expand into the nuclear industry. 
Development Status:  TRL 4 system has been validated in a laboratory environment. 
IP Status:     Provisional Patent Application No. 63/481,438, “Ablation Chamber Assemblies, Liners, and Associated Components and Methods,” BEA Docket No. BA-1383. 
INL seeks to license the above intellectual property to a company with a demonstrated ability to bring such inventions to the market. Exclusive rights in defined fields of use may be available. Added value is placed on relationships with small businesses, start-up companies, and general entrepreneurship opportunities.
Please visit Technology Deployment’s website at https://inl.gov/inl-initiatives/technology-deployment for more information on working with INL and the industrial partnering and technology transfer process. 
Companies interested in learning more about this licensing opportunity should contact Andrew Rankin at td@inl.gov.