HardwareX Podcasts

Author: HardwareX

HardwareX provides interviews and deep-dives with scientists and leading experts in open-source hardware. Produced for the journal HardwareX from Elsevier Publishing Company.
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Building OTTO: What an open source 3D printer is doing for drug research
Episode 3
Monday, 27 April, 2026

The Franz Diffusion Cell (FDC) is a piece of equipment used for studying in vitro drug absorption across the skin and other biological membranes over time. Internationally recognised as vital to commercial drug certification and pharmacological research, yet FDCs present a dilemma: Manual systems are cumbersome and introduce more human error, while automated FDCs often come with a high price tag and vendor lock-ins. Enter OTTO: An automated FDC sampling system converted from an open-source 3D printer, and specifically designed to be retrofittable to various systems and analytical equipment.To get to know OTTO, we're joined in this episode of HardwareX by Senior Lecturer in Pharmaceutics at Newcastle University, Dr Keng Wooi Ng, and Trainee Pharmacist, Liam Archibald.HardwareX is a peer-reviewed scientific journal about open-source hardware. For more info, visit HardwareX.