Provides fast, remote delivery of cherry-picked microtubes to any location up to 15m away - in another room or even on a different floor to the parent store
TTP Labtech announces the release of Companion, a remote delivery system to complement its scaleable microtube storage system, Compound.
Companion provides fast, remote delivery of cherry-picked microtubes to any location up to 15m away from Compound - in another room or even on a different floor to the parent store.
It is capable of generating a rack of 96 microtubes individually selected from Compound's 100,000 tube store in about nine minutes, processing over 5000 tubes in a day. Companion provides an easy interface to a variety of robotic rack handlers, thereby integrating Compound into a fully automated screening system.
Racks prepared by Companion can be fed directly into a liquid handler, and then rapidly stored away for later use, minimising the time samples are exposed.
The entire process from storage at -20C through to plate replication and back again, can be contained by placing Companion in an inert atmosphere, so samples are never exposed to moisture.
The easy-to-use scheduling software means that samples can be stored and retrieved overnight or on demand.
Companion does not require special conditions or bespoke automation equipment and its small footprint means that it can be sited within reach of a robot, alongside a reformatter or on a conventional laboratory bench without monopolising 'real estate' in an already crowded environment. Samples can be presented at either the front of Compound for an operator, or at Companion.
Selection is via the software interface.
"The need for integrated, remote access to the compound library has become paramount in today's HTS and uHTS environment" explained Jas Sanghera, TTP LabTech's commercial director.
"Linking Companion to Compound gives the user a huge choice of equipment with which the Compound system can integrate.
"The user is no longer constrained to one supplier for automating their laboratory, nor to the physical constraints of their storage system or laboratory shape". Sanghera continued: "Companion allows the operator to fully automate the process of retrieving and storing sample microtubes. The system can be configured to run overnight, allowing the user to collect their racks of tubes in the morning."
