Screening


tant mechanism for dealing with complex liquid handling requirements and avoiding unnecessary loss through operator errors. For some applica- tions, it is important that the user is able to take corrective action at the earliest opportunity. Remote monitoring systems allow the operator to protect assays without having to physically super- vise operation, offering increased walkaway time. A variety of strategies for remote monitoring are now available. Tecan’s CNS provides remote mon- itoring via an intranet or internet connection as well as using portable devices such as the iPhone®. These systems provide the operator with real time monitoring of automated laboratory processes from multiple systems, allowing them to perform other tasks from remote locations during process- ing (Figure 20).


Figure 20: Tecan’s TouchTools Suite™ touchscreen interface and Freedom EVO® Remote. Tecan’s CNS provides remote monitoring of HTS systems via an intranet or internet connection as well as using portable devices such as the iPhone®


and magnetic sensors to confirm correct placement of labware. By actively monitoring user interac- tions with the worktable, the software is able to alert the operator if labware has been loaded incor- rectly or removed unexpectedly, further reducing the risk of errors. With a growing reliance on auto- mated liquid handling and high throughput tech- niques, the cost of failed or aborted runs is increas- ing almost exponentially. In addition to the loss of productivity, the loss of expensive reagents or com- pounds can represent a significant cost to labora- tories. Error handling protocols not only safe- guard against system errors, but are also an impor-


Figure 21: Thermo Scientific Dimension4 System 74


Thermo Fisher Scientific (www.thermo-scientific. com/automate) partners with its customers to ensure they are involved in every aspect of system development, including hardware selection, specifi- cation of software requirements and instrument integration. The key factor impacting system relia- bility is appropriate component selection, this includes the automation and instrumentation. Thermo Fisher Scientific offers a comprehensive line of movers designed specifically for microtiter plate handling from simple instrument loading to complex multi-robot integrations to remove automation issues. It has implemented a host of instrument and software strategies to enhance overall reliability. Often, the weakest link is an instrument with a limited Automation Programming Interface. To compensate for limita- tions, Thermo has implemented a wealth of soft- ware features. Its innovative scheduling and work- flow platform, Thermo Scientific Momentum, is feature-rich with appropriate recovery options and verbose contextual error messaging that enables swift recovery from instrument failure. In fact, it is the leading innovator of error-recovery, pioneering the development of unattended run-modes. Thermo’s ‘unattended mode’ automatically attempts to recover from issues, limiting their impact on the overall system performance. Momentum software is the only scheduling soft- ware that offers comprehensive deadlock avoid- ance, detection and recovery. Momentum identifies potential bottlenecks in advance and then sched- ules to resolve the issue. The company’s compre- hensive portfolio of key technologies combined with advanced software solutions provides the industry with the highest standards in enabling reliability (Figure 21).


Drug Discovery World Winter 2010/11


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