Tecan offers end-to-end solutions for cellomics
Automated workflows from single-cell dispensing to 3D spheroid analysis
5 Feb 2024
At SLAS2024, Tecan has announced that it will offer end-to-end cellomics workflow solutions, including cell seeding and culture with quality control and monitoring, through drug dosing to live-cell imaging and analysis. The offering promises to enable laboratories to improve the reliability, reproducibility, and throughput of their workflows, addressing key challenges in the growing field of 3D cell biology.
Tecan’s cellomics portfolio includes the recently launched Uno Single Cell Dispenser™, a compact, automated benchtop instrument that delivers single-cell isolation and reagent dispensing in a single system. This cost-effective device enables researchers to dispense single cells into a 384-well plate in around five minutes while maintaining a robust 90% cell viability for downstream analyses.
Central to Tecan’s offering for cellomics is the Fluent® automated liquid handling workstation. The system, optimized for cell culture maintenance, cell seeding, and medium exchange (from 6- to 1,536-well plates), handles complex matrices such as Matrigel® with ease and offers scalable workflows through the integration of centrifuges, incubators, and peripheral devices. To automate the generation of dose-response curves, synergy experiments, and serial dilutions, the D300e Digital Dispenser provides automatic dispensing from picoliter to microliter scales, empowering both small- and large-molecule drug discovery.
Tecan’s flagship multimode reader, Spark® Cyto, has been designed for automated monitoring and assay measurement of live-cell cultures. Its imaging systems, which include both bright field and fluorescence capabilities, and its full environmental control (temperature and gas), support whole-well imaging of microplates and undisturbed cell growth for rapid analysis and reliable results. Combining multiplex plate reading and cell image analysis in a single instrument improves assay reproducibility and reliability of results. It also provides more insights, including the assessment of ATP levels and spheroid growth.
In an update scheduled for 2024, the introduction of AI-based 3D analysis tools for Spark Cyto will further enhance this instrument’s capabilities. The tools will open up new possibilities for scientific research by improving efficiency, accuracy, and the depth of insights that can be derived from experiments.
