Effective column space and stationary phase retention have been improved by changing the configuration of the helical column originally used for toroidal coil countercurrent chromatography. The use of an equilateral triangular core for the helix column doubles effective column space and retains the stationary phase over 40% of the total column capacity without increasing the column pressure. The present results suggest that the stationary phase retention and the peak resolution will be further improved using new column designs fabricated by a new technology called "laser sintering for rapid prototyping."