The Automation Partnership (Tap) announced, Fill-It, a new system for automatically creating freezer ready cell stocks is on show at LabAutomation 2008
Fill-It consists of an uncapping/recapping module fully integrated to a dispensing unit controlled by a simple user interface.
The system can automatically unscrew lids from 96 or 24 cryovials; accurately and reproducibly fill each vial with cell stock and then recap the tube in two minutes.
This is a fraction of the time it would take a scientist to perform these labour intensive tasks.
Also because Fill-It's pump uses sterile disposable tubing and it's recapping module has a built-in method of preventing the wrong lid going back on to a vial, the system eliminates many potential sources of contamination, ensuring frozen cell stocks are of the highest quality.
Fill-It can process common cryovials and tubes from suppliers including Nunc, Micronic, Matrix, Corning and Greiner.
The system uses SBS standard 24 and 96-way rack formats compatible with most commercial liquid handlers and is compact enough to fit in any laboratory or microbiological safety cabinets to maintain aseptic conditions for dispensing both mammalian and microbial cell suspensions.
This makes Fill-It an ideal tool for creating freezer ready vials for use as high quality cell libraries and high throughput screening reagents, as well as GMP production cell banks.
Stephen Guy, technology group manager at Tap, stated: "Scientists know that as soon as a cryopreservative has been added to cells, cells begin to deteriorate, so it is vital to produce a set of cell stocks that can be frozen as rapidly as possible.
"However, unscrewing lids, filling vials and then recapping them are tricky tasks to perform quickly with large tube numbers.
"This is why we are looking forward to unveiling a system at LabAutomation which will overcome this situation and to explain how Fill-It could help optimise the quality of frozen cells for use in cell based research or manufacturing applications."
