INTEGRA Biosciences has received a Red Dot Design Award for its innovative VIAFLO ASSIST - a new laboratory device that, in combination with a VIAFLO electronic handheld pipette, enables the pipette’s protocols to be performed automatically. With its origins dating back to 1955, the Red Dot Design Award ranks among the most renowned design competitions in the world.

INTEGRA received the prestigious Red Dot Design Award for the innovative design and function of its VIAFLO ASSIST pipetting assistant that reduces the need for traditional handheld pipetting to a minimum, relieving lab personnel from activities that may cause repetitive stress injuries.

The VIAFLO ASSIST met the Red Dot Design Award jury's criteria of degree of innovation, functionality, formal quality, ergonomics, durability, symbolic and emotional content, product periphery, self-explanatory quality and ecological compatibility. Some 4.815 products were submitted in 23 main categories and have been evaluated by the international jury comprising 40 renowned designers. Following the award announcement, the VIAFLO ASSIST will be put on display in the Red Dot Design Museum in Essen, Germany.

"Handheld pipetting requires practice to achieve steady reproducible pipetting results", said Juerg Bass - Marketing & Communications Manager for INTEGRA. "Typical parameters influencing performance are tip immersion depth and pipetting angle. The automated pipetting capability of VIAFLO ASSIST ensures these parameters are always the same, resulting in increased reproducibility and thus better results". "This prestigious design award underlines how INTEGRA strives to provide ergonomic laboratory tools to customers that help improve the ease with which they can undertake their working practices and also increase productivity".

The VIAFLO ASSIST works with all VIAFLO multichannel pipettes enabling precision pipetting throughout the volume range of 0.5 – 1250 µl. To use the VIAFLO ASSIST, simply mount a VIAFLO electronic pipette onto the pipette adapter, choose a protocol and press the run button. VIAFLO ASSIST will then obtain the protocol via Bluetooth from the VIAFLO electronic pipette and automatically execute it.

For further information on the VIAFLO ASSIST please visit www.integra-biosciences.com/sites/viaflo_assist.html. With around 2,000 exhibits spread over an area of more than 4,000 square metres, the Red Dot Design Museum houses the largest exhibition of contemporary design worldwide. The award-winning products from the Red Dot Award: Product Design 2014 will be presented in an impressive special exhibition from 8 July to 3 August 2014. For further information on the Red Dot design Awards please visit www.red-dot.de.