Drop Shape Analyzer – DSA100 by KRUSS GmbH

"I have been using KRUSS USA's DSA100 instrument for the last 18 years in three (3) different medical device companies, Johnson & Johnson, CooperVision, and BD (Becton Dickinson). In fact, I initiated the purchase of Kruss's DSA100 instrument and its accessories in all these companies. In the first two companies, I used it very easily and the results were highly useful for making critical decisions. In the last-mentioned company, I saw the need for it and convinced the upper management to approve the purchase of one for our R&D center at Covington, GA. In fact, we got one in November of 2019. I couldn't use it in 2020 since I had other priorities. In 2021, I tried to use it but found that they had updated the software and the operation was not as easy to use as before. I contacted the company's USA branch where I purchased it from. I found out that their service is not as friendly as I encountered back while working with J&J and CooperVision. This branch is asking for as much as 10% of the original cost for any training we need in-house. I found this to be outrageous since asking for the purchase of this service may be prohibited by our management. Currently, I have a brand new DSA100 machine sitting idle without use. However, we need to use this machine routinely now. I don't know how I will resolve the issue. I am not happy with Kruss USA's service, while I know the quality of the instrument is great."

"DSA-100 is the flagship product from Kruss USA. Originally the product comes from the parent company Kruss in Germany. This is a state-of-the-art product for surface and interface characterization of liquids and solids. The instrument is quite easy to use and the software is very intuitive. Those who are involved in R&D and product development for medical devices which interact with our body parts, this is a must to understand the interaction and make robust product designs and development. This instrument is versatile in its applications across all products development which involves joining of two or more materials."

"This equipment is very good for surface characterization purposes- determination of surface energy of different solid surfaces is very straight-forward and so is the determination of surface tension by pendant drop method. We also have a module which helps us determine interfacial tension of fluids. There are a couple of things that the manufacturer needs to give attention as part of continual improvement- first, update the software for easy manipulation of the data, for example export to Excel. Second, improve the captive bubble contact angle measurement capability in the equipment by adding automation of measurement by advanced software like LABVIEW and some improved equipment parts (for example, a syringe pump for controlling the bubble size, shapes for advancing and receding contact angle measurements; charting the data collection events in real time and calculating the CA)."