Lab Automation


Figure 1 The Echo® 655T acoustic


liquid handler can be used to eliminate compound loss,


cross-contamination, carryover or leachates in liquid handling workflows across drug


discovery and fundamental research


Other innovative dispensing technologies are


eliminating contact between the instrument and liquids completely. Acoustic liquid handling, which relies on the technique known as acoustic droplet ejection (ADE), is a relatively new approach to liq- uid handling that uses acoustic energy to transfer solutions in nanolitre increments. As this technolo- gy propels precisely-sized droplets from a source plate to a high-density microplate suspended above it, the liquid does not come into contact with any other surface, avoiding the possibility of cross-con- tamination, loss of material or exposure to leachates. Importantly, while early acoustic liquid han-


dling platforms could only support a limited set of liquid and container types, recent design improve- ments mean that modern systems are compatible with a much broader range of liquids. These sys- tems are enabling ultra-high throughput applica- tions and allowing researchers to accomplish more at considerably lower costs, without compromis- ing on quality. However, it’s not just novel dispensing technolo-


gies that are helping to drive improvements in liq- uid handling precision. Advances in automation software and control systems have also had a sub- stantial impact on performance. “Ten or even five years ago, automated liquid


Many of these improvements have directly


resulted from the development of liquid handling technologies that are specifically designed to accu- rately transfer liquids on the nanolitre scale or below. The latest positive displacement pipetting systems, for example, which employ highly accu- rate, yet low-cost, disposable pistons to dispense liquids, can now handle a wide range of liquid types and a broad range of volumes. Furthermore, because the pistons are only used once, they ensure consistent accuracy while eliminating the potential for contamination, clogging or carryover, reducing downtime. “Accurately and reproducibly transferring and


dispensing low sample volumes has traditionally been a challenge, especially for less tractable liq- uids such as viscous fluids,” says Joby Jenkins, Director of Product Strategy at TTP Labtech. “Next generation liquid handling technologies, such as automated positive displacement pipetting systems, are enabling scientists to cover both lower volume ranges and a wider variety of liquid types ranging from highly viscous to highly volatile, meaning they can now be used for more challeng- ing applications where once manual pipetting was required.”


16


handlers struggled to deliver the level of pipetting precision we now take for granted,” says Dr Eric Niederkofler, Application Leader, Affinity and Automation Consumables, at Thermo Fisher Scientific. “Modern sensor-integrated systems are capable of achieving exceptional accuracy, in part due to innovations such as software applications that can calibrate pipetting performance based on parameters such as liquid and tip type, volume range and mode of dispensing.” Thanks to improvements in dispensing design


and automation software, pharmaceutical compa- nies are bringing automation into drug discovery workflows where previously manual pipetting was required, helping to unlock potential research solu- tions and push past drug discovery hurdles with greater speed.


Precision liquid handling is enabling process miniaturisation The significant improvements in the low-volume accuracy and precision achieved by modern liquid handling systems are not just helping to boost con- fidence in experimental findings. The ability to work with fluids at the nanolitre or even picolitre scale is helping to miniaturise workflows and is driving efficiencies even further.


Drug Discovery World Winter 2018/19


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68