This high-volume liquid handler can independently control delivery of liquids into each well of a 96- or 384-well microplate, through the use of micro-electromechanical systems (Mems)
Caliper Life Sciences has announced the launch of the Sciclone i1000 liquid handling system, a high-volume liquid handler that can independently control delivery of liquids into each well of a 96- or 384-well microplate.
The i1000 joins the inL10 and ALH 3000 systems in Caliper's line of Sciclone liquid handlers.
The Sciclone i1000 shares the inL10 system's multi-Mems technology: each of the instrument's 96 fluid channels has a dedicated Mems (micro-electromechanical systems) flow meter that controls, monitors and verifies delivery of fluids.
In addition to providing simultaneous multi-volume pipetting capabilities, this type of design improves accuracy and precision of liquid handling and allows for extended audit trail capabilities.
"Mems technology, which has been used in other analytical tools for several years now, had not been fully exploited for robotic systems," said Rick Bernal, vice president of instrument R and D at Caliper.
"Our team of engineers was excited to participate in advancing the state-of-the-art in liquid handling".
The Caliper Sciclone inL10 system, introduced in the spring of 2004, pipettes liquid volumes between ten nanolitres and ten microlitres, while the Sciclone i1000 is designed to handle larger volumes - from ten microlitres to 1000 microlitres.
Higher-volume applications include solid phase extraction, protein purification, and oligonucleotide synthesis purification.
"The Caliper Sciclone inL10 and i1000 are the only liquid handlers on the market that can independently control fluid delivery to each and every well," said Mark Roskey, Caliper's vice president of marketing.
"The most popular feature of these systems is their ability to perform one-step normalisations, whereby experiments requiring multi-level dilutions can be rapidly executed with only two liquid transfers.
"Our customers love the convenience".
Caliper says the Sciclone i1000 system is currently shipping.
Caliper Life Sciences uses its advanced liquid handling and LabChip technologies to create leading edge tools that accelerate drug discovery, enable diagnosis of disease and facilitate scientific research.
Caliper headquarters are located in Hopkinton, Massachusetts, with R and D, operations and manufacturing facilities for LabChip devices in Mountain View, California, and direct sales, service and applications support throughout the world.
Caliper customers and partners include many of the largest pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and life sciences companies.
