Microplate stacker module enables handling of up to 48 microtitre plates without user intervention, and also automates lid lifting to address sample evaporation during microarray printing
Arrayjet has unveiled a self-contained automated plate handling capability for its Aj100 microarray spotter.
Launched recently, the Aj100 inkjet microarray spotter was Arrayjet's first commercial product.
Technical director Howard Manning said: "We had always planned to extend the Aj100 in order to address the needs of high throughput microarray producers".
The new microplate stacker module, Aj020, enables handling of up to 48 microtitre plates without user intervention, and also automates lid lifting to address sample evaporation during microarray printing.
Manning continued: "we understood at an early stage that we needed to design and implement these capabilities without resorting to an external plate feeder, as many laboratories are faced with space constraints.
"We didn't want to preclude these labs from using our system".
The stacker can be purchased and installed on an existing Aj100 or as an integral part of a new system (designated Aj120).
It is also capable of housing a refrigeration unit if required and this modularity concept is central to the Arrayjet design ethos.
"We have created a wave of excitement in the market with our new modular technology", says Duncan Hall, director of sales and marketing at Arrayjet.
"The Aj100 has been installed at key sites across the UK and most have already been upgraded with the new stacker unit".
With the Aj100 microarray spotter designed to accommodate future upgrades within its footprint, industrial scale production can be achieved without the need for large pieces of equipment, says the company.
To increase throughput further, Arrayjet is planning the development of a new automated slide handler so that even small facilities can produce the numbers of microarrays they need, rather than be forced to fit their workflow around the restricted capacity of less powerful machines.
"Many microarray producers, particularly core facilities, are largely dissatisfied with printing only 100 or so slides in a single run.
"They would prefer to print up to five times as many so they can maximise the efficiency and reduce freeze-thaw cycles of their samples", said Manning.
"In upgrading the Aj100 to enable walk-away production of hundreds of slides, without adding space-eating external stackers or loaders, we will bring high throughput array manufacture to the lab."
