Aseptic Technologies
Engineering a principle-first mixing-and-cooling system for cell-therapy manufacturing
Case Overview
Voxdale developed a concept and validated the core technology for Aseptic Technologies' cell-therapy mixing-and-cooling system — solid-state cooling of a 5-litre volume to within ±2°C and non-destructive mixing of live cells — proving the physics on a real-component test rig before designing the product.
Sector
Pharma / Biotech · Advanced cell-therapy manufacturing
Client
Aseptic Technologies, a company in aseptic pharmaceutical/biotech processing
Product
A mixer and cooling system that streamlines the most delicate stage of cell-therapy manufacturing (final mixing and cooling), where variability and manual handling threaten product quality
Voxdale's role
Concept strategy and core technology development: cooling, mixing, control electronics/firmware, interaction, and spatial product architecture
Technologies
Solid-state cooling technology (±2°C over 5 L), non-destructive mixer concept, touch-panel interaction, STM32-based firmware, modular 1 L/5 L architecture
How we worked
Principle-first: validated technology on a real-component wooden test frame before product and interaction design
Hardest challenge
Holding a tight ±2°C temperature interval while mixing without destroying cells, across a 1 L–5 L modular range, over a long product lifetime
Outcome
A validated core technology and concept architecture, de-risked and ready to carry into product.
Case Overview
Voxdale developed a concept and validated the core technology for Aseptic Technologies' cell-therapy mixing-and-cooling system — solid-state cooling of a 5-litre volume to within ±2°C and non-destructive mixing of live cells — proving the physics on a real-component test rig before designing the product.
Sector
Pharma / Biotech · Advanced cell-therapy manufacturing
Client
Aseptic Technologies, a company in aseptic pharmaceutical/biotech processing
Product
A mixer and cooling system that streamlines the most delicate stage of cell-therapy manufacturing (final mixing and cooling), where variability and manual handling threaten product quality
Voxdale's role
Concept strategy and core technology development: cooling, mixing, control electronics/firmware, interaction, and spatial product architecture
Technologies
Solid-state cooling technology (±2°C over 5 L), non-destructive mixer concept, touch-panel interaction, STM32-based firmware, modular 1 L/5 L architecture
How we worked
Principle-first: validated technology on a real-component wooden test frame before product and interaction design
Hardest challenge
Holding a tight ±2°C temperature interval while mixing without destroying cells, across a 1 L–5 L modular range, over a long product lifetime
Outcome
A validated core technology and concept architecture, de-risked and ready to carry into product.
Case Overview
Voxdale developed a concept and validated the core technology for Aseptic Technologies' cell-therapy mixing-and-cooling system — solid-state cooling of a 5-litre volume to within ±2°C and non-destructive mixing of live cells — proving the physics on a real-component test rig before designing the product.
Sector
Pharma / Biotech · Advanced cell-therapy manufacturing
Client
Aseptic Technologies, a company in aseptic pharmaceutical/biotech processing
Product
A mixer and cooling system that streamlines the most delicate stage of cell-therapy manufacturing (final mixing and cooling), where variability and manual handling threaten product quality
Voxdale's role
Concept strategy and core technology development: cooling, mixing, control electronics/firmware, interaction, and spatial product architecture
Technologies
Solid-state cooling technology (±2°C over 5 L), non-destructive mixer concept, touch-panel interaction, STM32-based firmware, modular 1 L/5 L architecture
How we worked
Principle-first: validated technology on a real-component wooden test frame before product and interaction design
Hardest challenge
Holding a tight ±2°C temperature interval while mixing without destroying cells, across a 1 L–5 L modular range, over a long product lifetime
Outcome
A validated core technology and concept architecture, de-risked and ready to carry into product.
Executive Summary
The final mixing and cooling of a cell-therapy product is the stage where quality is most easily lost — variability and manual handling can compromise living cells at the last step before delivery.
Aseptic Technologies set out to remove that risk with a dedicated mixing-and-cooling system and engaged Voxdale for concept strategy and core technology development.
Rather than jump to product design, Voxdale took a principle-first approach: it built a spatial product architecture optimised for position, cooling, mixing and interaction, then integrated real cooling, mixing and display components into a wooden test frame to begin duration testing at a very early stage.
The hardest engineering was holding a 5-litre volume within ±2°C using solid-state cooling while mixing gently enough not to destroy cells, achieved by decoupling the mixer mechanics from the cooling and driving both with smart electronics. Technology was validated first; product and interaction design followed.
The result is a de-risked, validated core technology and concept, engineered to fit a typical lab and Aseptic's existing devices.
Executive Summary
Executive Summary
Client Context
Aseptic Technologies is a company in the pharma/biotech field, working in aseptic processing for advanced therapies.
Advanced cell therapies are manufactured in small, high-value batches where every handling step is a risk. The final mixing and cooling step, which brings the product to a homogeneous state and holds it at temperature, is especially delicate: variability and manual handling at this point can compromise the quality of the finished product.
Aseptic Technologies wanted a system that would take this critical step out of manual hands and control it reliably, and came to Voxdale for the concept and the underlying technology.
Client Context
Client Context
The Technical Brief
Streamline the final mixing and cooling stage of cell-therapy manufacturing, reducing variability and manual handling
Cool a 5-litre volume and hold it within a tight ±2°C interval
Mix reliably and non-destructively, without damaging living cells
Support a modular range covering both 1 L and 5 L vials
Monitor all mixing and temperature parameters through a touch-panel interface
Fit a typical lab setup and interoperate with existing Aseptic devices
Deliver a long product lifetime
The Technical Brief
The Technical Brief
The Harder, Less Obvious Part
Underneath the brief sat a set of constraints that pulled against each other and could not be solved in sequence:
Two objectives that fight each other: tight temperature control and gentle-but-effective mixing pull in opposite directions — energy put into mixing and the mechanics that deliver it work against holding a ±2°C band across a 5-litre volume.
Non-destructive by requirement, not preference: the “product” is living cells; the mixing principle has to homogenise them without shear or thermal damage, which rules out aggressive conventional mixing.
Modularity across a 5× volume range: the same architecture had to serve 1 L and 5 L, changing the thermal mass and mixing dynamics substantially.
Lifetime and robustness: the mechanics and mixing principle had to survive a long product lifetime in repeated clinical/lab use.
Committing to a product too early: the real risk was designing a finished-looking product around a working principle that had not yet been proven under duration.
The Harder, Less Obvious Part
The Harder, Less Obvious Part
What Voxdale Delivered
Voxdale engineered five generations of the C2K device in direct co-development with ITM's clinical research team.
Spatial product architecture.
Voxdale's first deliverable was a spatial product architecture: a layout defining the optimal setup for positioning, cooling, mixing and product interaction. This architecture, rather than an early product design, was the framework against which everything else was validated.
Solid-state cooling technology.
Voxdale designed the cooling technology around solid-state cooling, sized to cool a 5-litre volume and hold it within a ±2°C interval. Solid-state (thermoelectric) cooling was chosen for controllability in that tight band.
Smart driving electronics.
The cooling enclosure is paired with smart driving electronics that regulate the solid-state cooling to secure the temperature interval.
Non-destructive mixer concept.
Voxdale designed the mixer concept to achieve optimal mixing results without destroying the cells — a mixing principle tuned for homogenisation of a living, shear-sensitive product.
Decoupling of mixer mechanics and cooling.
A key architectural decision was to decouple the mixer mechanics from the cooling technology, so that the mixing action and the thermal control could each be optimised — and made robust — without one compromising the other.
Robust mechanics for product lifetime.
The mechanics and mixing principle were engineered to be robust enough to cover a long product lifetime.
Touch-panel interaction and monitoring.
Voxdale designed the user interaction using touch-panel technology, presenting and monitoring all mixing and temperature parameters.
Firmware and control hardware.
The system runs on an STM32 microcontroller driving a touch display, with firmware developed by Voxdale to control mixing and cooling and to serve the interface.
Modular 1 L / 5 L design.
The design is modular, supporting both a 1-litre and a 5-litre vial within the same product concept.
Fit to lab and existing device ecosystem.
The system was designed to fit a typical lab setup and to work alongside existing Aseptic devices.
What Voxdale Delivered
What Voxdale Delivered
How We Worked
The project ran through 2022 as a concept-strategy engagement of roughly 200 hours.
Project lead / account — Tom Dewaele
Technology (cooling / mixing / electronics / firmware) — Merijn Sanders
The team worked principle-first to avoid committing to a product too early: they defined the spatial product architecture, then integrated real cooling, mixing and display components into a wooden frame so duration testing could begin at a very early development stage. Technology was validated first; product and interaction design came second — a method Voxdale believes de-risks development and accelerates time to product.
How We Worked
How We Worked
The Hardest Challenge — and How We Solved It
The challenge. Building a modular system that supports both a 1 L and 5 L vial, holds a ±2°C temperature interval, and mixes reliably and non-destructively over a long product lifetime.
Why it was difficult. Tight thermal control and effective mixing work against each other, and the product being mixed is living cells that cannot tolerate aggressive handling — all while the same architecture has to scale across a 5× volume range and last.
What would not work. Designing a finished product around an unproven principle, or coupling the mixer mechanics directly to the cooling, would have baked in risk: a nice-looking device whose core physics might fail under duration, with mixing and cooling compromising each other.
What we changed:
Validate technology before product. real cooling, mixing and display components were tested in a wooden frame for duration before any product design — proving the principle first.
Solid-state cooling with smart electronics. the cooling/mixing enclosure secured the ±2°C interval using solid-state cooling driven by smart electronics.
Decouple mixer mechanics from cooling. separating the two let each be optimised and made robust independently.
Engineer the mixing principle for gentleness and lifetime. the mixer concept was tuned to homogenise without destroying cells, on mechanics robust enough to cover the product lifetime.
The Hardest Challenge — and How We Solved It
The Hardest Challenge — and How We Solved It
Outcome
A validated core technology: solid-state cooling holding 5 L within ±2°C, and a non-destructive mixing principle
A spatial product architecture and concept de-risked through early duration testing
Modular concept spanning 1 L and 5 L, designed to fit a typical lab and existing Aseptic devices
STM32-based control with touch-panel monitoring of all mixing and temperature parameters
Outcome
Outcome
What This Proves for Similar Teams
This case is for pharma/biotech and equipment teams building hardware for sensitive biological processes — where a working principle must be proven before it is worth productising.
It shows Voxdale can own concept strategy and the hard core technology at once — thermal, mechanical, electronics, firmware and interaction — and can de-risk a program by validating physics on real components early, rather than designing a product around assumptions.
What This Proves for Similar Teams
What This Proves for Similar Teams
Ready to de-risk your hardware concept before you commit to a product?
Voxdale validates the core physics — thermal, mechanical, electronics, and control — on real components early, so you know the principle works before investing in final product design. Explore our Concept Development capabilities or contact us to discuss your hardware challenge.
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© 2026 Voxdale BV
© 2026 Voxdale BV
© 2026 Voxdale BV