Managing your compound library

Micronic BV has announced a new technical note that describes an elegant automated solution that overcomes the tedious and time consuming task of measuring the volume in capped sample storage tubes.

As the number of samples to be stored has grown so the need for automated sample storage instrumental solutions has become increasingly important. Entitled 'Managing your compound library' the new technical note describes automation products that manage the 4 stages of sample storage volume measurement: tube decapping, non-contact sample volume measurement, tube capping and re-arraying the tubes.

With the ever-growing requirement for higher sample throughput in many laboratories the Micronic Auto Decapper enables significant productivity gains to be made in the opening of multiple sample storage tubes. Easy to install and operate the Auto Decapper automatically removes and disposes of the caps from a full 96-tube rack in less than 10 seconds. Operation is safe and user friendly - simply place a rack of capped tubes onto the access tray, push the start button and the Auto Decapper will in one action gently remove all the caps. Not only does the Auto Decapper increase productivity but it also reduces the possibilities of sample cross-contamination with an integrated cap disposal device to ensure that caps are not reused.

The Micronic VolumeCheck is an innovative automated system that enables fast and reliable determination of sample volume in unsealed 96-well deep or shallow-well microplates, 96-tube racks, and high-volume test tube racks. Using proprietary acoustic sensor technology the VolumeCheck is able to provide high accuracy non-contact sample volume determination, for example it is capable of scanning a complete 96-well plate in only 1 minute. Sample volume is derived from the acoustic sample measurement compared against a calibration data set generated from previously collected known sample volumes.

The Micronic Pneumatic SafeSealer is a semi-automated tube capping device designed to accelerate the process of sealing your samples to ensure their integrity. Robust and easy-to-use, the compact Pneumatic SafeSealer automatically adjusts for different tube sizes and is able to consistently cap 96 tubes in less than 5 seconds. Designed to increase productivity and eliminate expensive tube capping systems, Micronic TPE coloured caps provide single action capping of a single tube, a row of tubes, or a complete 96-tube rack. With a choice of eight different colours, TPE caps provide a simple, yet highly effective means of visually differentiating stored samples by person, department, project or even by the day of the week they were submitted.

For automating re-arraying of compound storage tubes between multiple 96 tube racks the compact Micronic MXL9 and MXL20 Tube Sorter systems brings large-scale automated tube handling within the budget of most laboratories. Intelligent robotics allows unattended and error-free processing of 9 or 20 tube racks at a time. For large compound libraries the XL advanced tube management system allows dynamic exchange of tube racks facilitating virtually an unlimited number of tubes to be automatically sorted. Built for productivity the MXL9 and MXL20 systems will automatically sort up to 900 tubes per hour. Features such as individual tube identification, bar coded rack set-up and detailed log files make the MXL Automated Tube Sorter range a best-in-class automation platform.