The easiest alternative to manual serial dilutions
Save time and money with ready-to-use semi-automated decimal dilutions
How to perform decimal dilutions with the Dilucup® System?
- Place the blister with Dilucups on the shaker and open the desired number of cups.
- Add 1 mL sample to the first Dilucup®.
- Activate the shaking by moving your hand in front of the optical sensor or by using the foot-switch.
- With a new sterile pipette tip, collect 1 mL from the first cup and release it into the second cup.
- Activate the shaking.
- Repeat this operation until the final dilution rate is reached.
- Plate and incubate 1 mL from the desired dilutions.
Dilucup® System vs other serial dilution systems
Traditional serial dilution methods typically require diluent preparation, autoclaving, quality control, instrument calibration, and the associated cleaning. All of this is time-consuming, and the continuous use of a vortex mixer and the need to open and close tubes can be detrimental to the operator's health, often requiring months of recovery from repetitive motion injuries.
The Dilucup® System simplifies this entire process with pre-filled, ready-to-use dilution cups and compatible shakers for semi-automated and ergonomic mixing.
Compared to traditional manual dilution, the Dilucup® System helps laboratories to:
- Minimize preparation time and the number of steps.
- Reduce dilution time by half compared to tubes.
- Reduce repetitive manual handling: eliminating the need to open/close tubes and use a vortex mixer.
- Improve reproducibility between users and between laboratories.
- Simplify the overall process.
| Features | Dilucup® System | Dilution tubes + vortex mixer | Other serial dilution systems |
|---|---|---|---|
| Format | Prefilled 9 mL cups | Manually prepared glass tubes | Another container |
| Preparation | No preparation needed, ready to be used | Weighing chemicals, mixing wtih water, filling tubes, sterilizing, cleaning, washing after use.. | Preparation of diluents, calibration, washing and sterilizing the tubes and the different parts of the filling instrument. |
| Mixing | Hands-free vortexing with Dilugent® Shaker or Dilushaker III | Vortex mixer | Another instrument |
| Ergonomics | Very good. The shakers absorb all movements and the use of the vortex is completely eliminated | Repetitive use of the vortex mixer may cause repetitive strain injuries | Variable |
| Best for | Few to 100+ samples per day, 1-12 dilutions per sample | Few samples | Fewer dilutions |
Who is the Dilucup® System for?
The Dilucup® System is designed for microbiology and quality control laboratories that perform routine serial dilutions.
This system is flexible and ideal for analyzing from a few samples to more than 100 per day.
Dilucup® is especially relevant for:
- Food and beverage microbiology
- Contract testing laboratories
- Probiotic industries
- Environmental testing
- Pulp and paper industries
- Water analysis
- Cosmetic microbiology laboratories
- Research and teaching laboratories that need repeatable dilution workflows
How to get started
Diluents:
- MRD (Maximum Recovery Diluent)
- BPW (Buffered Peptone Water)
- NACL (Saline solution)
- EP (Peptone Water)
- DW (Deionized Water)
- Blisters of 42 (7x6) or 21 (7x3) Dilucups
Shakers:
- Dilugent® Shaker or Dilushaker III
- Flexible: from few to more than 100 samples per day
- 1 to 12 dilutions per samples
Accessories:
- Foot-switch
- Scanner for traceability of dilutions
- Transport suitcase
