Biomek P50 Pipette Tips Enable Efficient Transfer of Small Volumes

Beckman Coulter has introduced new Span-8 P50 Conductive Pipette Tips to complement their existing P50 Non-Conductive Tip line. The tips have a fine point which facilitates the efficient transfer of small sample volumes characteristic of assay miniaturization.

Both conductive and non-conductive tips provide access into deep and narrow labware such as Microfuge tubes, 1.4mL storage tubes and deep-well plates. They are made using 100% premium-grade virgin polypropylene and are manufactured in a controlled environment to stringent specifications. Samples are tested for biological certifications and statistical process-control product sampling is conducted.

The tips are offered for use on the company’s Biomek* Laboratory Automation Workstations. The new P50 Conductive Pipette Tips take advantage of the liquid-level sensing technology in Biomek workstations. Developed for applications in which volumes are not always known or specified, this feature is especially useful when pipetting from tubes containing saliva or blood samples from a variety of sources. It allows pipetting from the top of the liquid rather than the bottom of the tube or plate. This reduces the tips exterior wetted surface, minimizing cross-contamination and conserving valuable samples.

Validated Biomek P50 Pipette Tips are an important component of the total system solution for applications such as qPCR and sample preparation for next generation sequencing, explained Jerome Lim, product manager at Beckman Coulter. “Using validated components in an automated system – from hardware and software to consumables – is key to generating high-quality, repeatable assay results.”

An import file containing tip definitions, pipetting techniques and templates provides validation support and helps optimize efficiency. Tip information is automatically populated in the Biomeks labware library.
Tip-rack colors are captured in software, speeding method development by minimizing potential errors in tip selection and Biomek deck set-up.