SUTTER INSTRUMENT

In 1977, Dale Flaming, a scientist working at the University of California at San Francisco (UCSF), was having difficulty reliably producing micropipettes for use in his study of retina cells. He developed the first electronically controlled micropipette puller to facilitate his research. Demand for additional pullers from colleagues prompted the formation of Sutter Instrument Company. Since then, our product portfolio has grown to include amplifiers, microscopes, micromanipulators, and imaging products. Dale remains the active CEO of the company to this day.

Sutter has since grown from a small garage operation to a 55,000 square foot manufacturing facility in Novato California. Employing over 70 staff, many of whom have backgrounds in neuroscience, we pride ourselves in helping scientists the world over with the devices they need to do their research. In 2007 Sutter became partially employee owned with the formation of our ESOP.

For over 45 years, Sutter Instrument has set the highest standards for performance and innovation. New products include dPatch, a digital integrated patch clamp amplifier system with onboard D/A conversion and data acquisition, and powerful SutterPatch software built on the foundations of Igor Pro. Advances have also been made in the Lambda 421 Optical Beam Combiner that combines separate light sources with different spectra into a single common output beam, the TRIO 3-axis micromanipulator, and the BOB, an open-design upright microscope ideal for slice electrophysiology, wide field imaging, 2-photon retinal imaging and photostimulation.

All of our design and manufacturing happens on our premises. Sutter’s machine shop has become one of the finest precision machining facilities in Northern California, employing state-of-the-art CNC machining and turning centers for volume production of precision mechanical components. This allows us to rapidly develop products, and to customize any of our products to the needs of the individual researcher.