Table 3.

Comparison of Biacore and NP SPR systems.

	Biacore SPR T100	NP Wave Guide SPR
Automated	Yes	Yes
Temperature Control (°C)	4–40	Room temperature
Flow Channels	4	4
Flow cell Volume	60 nL	1 µL
Refractive Index Range	1.33–1.36	Same
Detection principle	The molecular interaction (cleavage or binding) is detected by measuring the change in the resonance angle; SPR causes a reduction in the intensity of reflected light at a specific angle of reflection. This angle varies with the refractive index close to the surface on the side opposite from the reflected light (sample side).	The molecular interaction is detected by measuring the refractive index induced change in intensity of the TM-polarized component of a transmitted light beam. High sensitivity is achieved by using the index-insensitive TE-polarized component of the same light beam as a reference. Thus canceling out the instrument’s opto-mechanical noise
Software		LAB View TM (not material)
Baseline noise (RU)	1 resonance units (RU). (One RU = index change of 10−6	0.01 RU
Online subtraction of background response	Yes (Flow cells 2-1, 3-1,4-1)	Yes
Help to study	Affinity, Kinetics, Binding, Specificity, concentration	same
Instrumentation
Sensor Chip Cost	$150 per chip for the dextran chips	<$2 (estimated)