20 ANALYTICAL AND LABORATORY EQUIPMENT
MICROPLATE handling A
Engineering the future of microplate handling instruments. By Tom Ackrill
Conceptions pour le futur des instruments de manipulation de microplaques Par Tom Ackrill
Instrumente der Zukunft bei der Bearbeitung von Mikrotiterplatten. Von Tom Ackrill
core aim of Vitl Products is to evaluate the best laboratory instruments
the market currently has to off er and to redesign them from a user and engineering perspective to develop even better instruments at a similar price point. Vitl is part of the Integrated
Technologies Ltd (ITL) group. ITL has worked on many instrument design and manufacturing projects over almost 40 years in business, targeting in vitro diagnostics (IVD), medical devices (MDD) and laboratory equipment.
Flexible, repeatable heat-sealing Heat-sealing seals onto microplates has a variety of applications in life sciences including storage, polymerase chain reaction (PCR), quantitative PCR (qPCR) and sample incubation. In all of these applications we consider ease of use, reproducible sealing integrity, user safety and increasingly stringent regulatory standards. T ese considerations guided the Vitl team to incorporate the following features into their fi rst product – the variable temperature heat sealer (VTS):
● Variable sealing temperature and a countdown timer; so that microplates made
from diff erent materials can be repeatedly and reliably sealed using a variety of seals including variants that are chemically resistant, thermally stable, clear, opaque or of various thicknesses that can be pealed and/or pierced
● A pressure sensor; so that the optimal pressure can be applied to the seal during heating, again for repeatability
● A handle design and ergonomic lever action intended to reduce the risk of repetitive strain injury
● A fl exible power supply allowing one product variant to be used worldwide
One common human error in heat sealing is to apply the seal to the plate in the incorrect orientation so that the material seals to the heat sealer and not the plate. Vitl’s range of heat seals graphically indicates the type of seal being used and the correct orientation for usage therefore elegantly reducing the possibility of error. Following input from lab equipment users, the Vitl heat sealer range has been further expanded with the development of a sealer (the microTS) that retains the simplicity of the early standard models, but has better ergonomics and a smaller
The microTS heat sealer from Vitl
footprint. T is sealer operates at the industry standard fi xed- temperature of 170°C but, unlike some competing products, does not need to be used twice to give a reliable seal, thus halving the run time. Often these sealers are used in fume hoods and the low-profi le design allows easy use in this taxing environment. T e same strategy of looking at the best in class and then expanding on it was also applied to Vitl’s next product. T is is also in a microplate handling application, but this time related to sample mixing. T e Co-Mix incorporates simultaneous tube mixing and plate vortexing, whereas many competitors off er only mutually exclusive capabilities. Sample integrity is a key
Vitl off ers range of solutions for microplate handling
requirement in any lab and this has been achieved by using an automated, microplate holding mechanism that gently and automatically locks the plate in position before vortexing. To give the user the greatest control over their often precious samples, a range of factory-set mixing programmes are pre-loaded into the Co-Mix’s memory. A range of carriers allows the mixing of a variety of microplates and tubes making the Co-Mix a very versatile platform.
Tom Ackrill is with ITL.
www.itl.co.uk
www.scientistlive.com
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