Thermo Fisher Scientific enables clinical research, toxicology and anti-doping laboratories performing dried spot sampling and analysis to utilize a new automated sample prep and ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography (UHPLC) system to improve efficiency, robustness, sensitivity and sample traceability.
The new Thermo Scientific Transcend DSX-1 integrated sample prep and UHPLC system eliminates disc punching typically associated with dried matrix (spot) cards, and optimizes sample extraction and recovery of multiple matrices (e.g., blood, urine, serum and saliva). The new system enables laboratories performing routine analysis of drugs and other compounds to achieve substantial savings on time, labour and reagent costs compared to manual workflows.
Proprietary flow-through desorption with heated capillary eliminates the need for manual, time-consuming extraction protocols and the automatic addition of an internal standard prior to the extraction minimizes matrix interference. Robustness and sensitivity are enhanced through online proprietary sample cleanup and enrichment via Thermo Scientific TurboFlow technology, producing confident results.
“Toxicology laboratories play a crucial role in detecting drug use and misuse in an ongoing struggle to safeguard society against increasing numbers of substances at ever decreasing concentrations. Dried spot analysis has emerged as a key technology in this area, requiring only a small amount of sample and, therefore, minimizing the user impact,” said Brad Hart, senior director, analytical vertical and life science mass spectrometry marketing, Thermo Fisher Scientific. “With the conventional workflow being held back by time-consuming manual procedures, we designed the Transcend DSX-1 system to ensure laboratories are able to effectively increase throughput to meet demand, while still ensuring the integrity and quality of results that are expected.”
Professor Mario Thevis, director for the Center for Preventative Doping Research, German Sport University, Cologne said: “Dried blood spot (DBS) tests have the potential to contribute substantially to an improved anti-doping testing program, today and in the future, supporting the clean athlete as well as the overall doping control analytical strategy. DBS analysis is the latest tool approved by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and was introduced at this year’s Winter Olympic Games in Beijing, China. In order to accommodate the specific needs associated with DBS analyses, and the considerable number of target analytes, robust, sensitive, programmable and especially automated DBS analytical options will offer critical advantages to anti-doping laboratories.”
The Transcend DSX-1 system is controlled by Thermo Scientific Aria MX software, which streamlines dried spot analysis by fully integrating all aspects of the workflow, such as:
- Sample card handling
- LC pump operation and valve switching
- On-line sample clean-up
- Liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry methods.
Furthermore, the Intelligent Vision Camera ensures data integrity and enables retrospective monitoring by capturing sample traceability, chain of custody and accurate spot recognition.
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INTEGRA Biosciences makes molecular diagnostics accessible to all with automated pipetting
, /in Product News /by panglobalINTEGRA Biosciences’ pipetting solutions are being used by renegade.bio to address the urgent need of diagnostic testing for COVID-19 in the San Francisco Bay Area of California, USA. The company carries out huge numbers of SARS-CoV-2 assays each day, and has chosen INTEGRA’s automated adjustable electronic pipettes and pipetting robots to perform PCR assays faster and more cost-effectively, while retaining high degrees of sensitivity and specificity.
Renegade.bio is a public-benefit corporation, and was founded in March 2020 to make SARS-CoV-2 diagnostic testing more accessible to the wider population, supporting health equity goals. When setting up its workflow, the company chose to combine a decentralized approach to sample collection with automation of repetitive liquid handling tasks with INTEGRA pipetting solutions, reducing their costs while greatly increasing productivity and still turning around assay results in as little as 12 hours.
Dr Gabriel Paulino, Co-founder and Vice President of Product Development and Innovation at renegade.bio, commented: “The ASSIST PLUS pipetting robot equipped with a VOYAGER adjustable tip spacing pipette is one of our main automation platforms. This has really helped us to increase our throughput, as the VOYAGER is the only solution that can automatically adjust the distance between the individual tips, allowing us to move samples between our different sample tubes and plates easily. We also use the VIAFLO 96 handheld electronic pipette for assay set-up, as it’s really useful to be able to pipette reagents into every well of a microplate at the same time.”
“We love the user interface of the INTEGRA products. It’s so easy to program the pipettes, and these intuitive tools have made the whole assay process incredibly streamlined. All the pipetting is now automated, which helps to reduce human error and fatigue, and allows us to work around the clock at our maximum capacity of around 2000 tests a day. INTEGRA was definitely the right solution for us, and we’ve recently invested in a MINI 96 portable electronic pipette to further streamline our workflows.”
Thermo Scientific’s new automated dried spot sampling and analysis system saves time, labour and reagent costs
, /in Product News /by panglobalThermo Fisher Scientific enables clinical research, toxicology and anti-doping laboratories performing dried spot sampling and analysis to utilize a new automated sample prep and ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography (UHPLC) system to improve efficiency, robustness, sensitivity and sample traceability.
The new Thermo Scientific Transcend DSX-1 integrated sample prep and UHPLC system eliminates disc punching typically associated with dried matrix (spot) cards, and optimizes sample extraction and recovery of multiple matrices (e.g., blood, urine, serum and saliva). The new system enables laboratories performing routine analysis of drugs and other compounds to achieve substantial savings on time, labour and reagent costs compared to manual workflows.
Proprietary flow-through desorption with heated capillary eliminates the need for manual, time-consuming extraction protocols and the automatic addition of an internal standard prior to the extraction minimizes matrix interference. Robustness and sensitivity are enhanced through online proprietary sample cleanup and enrichment via Thermo Scientific TurboFlow technology, producing confident results.
“Toxicology laboratories play a crucial role in detecting drug use and misuse in an ongoing struggle to safeguard society against increasing numbers of substances at ever decreasing concentrations. Dried spot analysis has emerged as a key technology in this area, requiring only a small amount of sample and, therefore, minimizing the user impact,” said Brad Hart, senior director, analytical vertical and life science mass spectrometry marketing, Thermo Fisher Scientific. “With the conventional workflow being held back by time-consuming manual procedures, we designed the Transcend DSX-1 system to ensure laboratories are able to effectively increase throughput to meet demand, while still ensuring the integrity and quality of results that are expected.”
Professor Mario Thevis, director for the Center for Preventative Doping Research, German Sport University, Cologne said: “Dried blood spot (DBS) tests have the potential to contribute substantially to an improved anti-doping testing program, today and in the future, supporting the clean athlete as well as the overall doping control analytical strategy. DBS analysis is the latest tool approved by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and was introduced at this year’s Winter Olympic Games in Beijing, China. In order to accommodate the specific needs associated with DBS analyses, and the considerable number of target analytes, robust, sensitive, programmable and especially automated DBS analytical options will offer critical advantages to anti-doping laboratories.”
The Transcend DSX-1 system is controlled by Thermo Scientific Aria MX software, which streamlines dried spot analysis by fully integrating all aspects of the workflow, such as:
Furthermore, the Intelligent Vision Camera ensures data integrity and enables retrospective monitoring by capturing sample traceability, chain of custody and accurate spot recognition.
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Ziath takes its sample management innovations on tour
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Lab Days Copenhagen, Nordic Biobanking Symposium
These innovative sample management products will be on show at Lab Days Copenhagen and the Nordic Biobanking Symposium in Gothenburg (both 6-8 September), the ELRIG-FR automation village at Forum Labo in Lyon (19-20 September) and at WOTS 2022 in Utrecht (27-30 September 2022).
SLAS/ELRIG Drug Discovery, Spanish National Biobanking
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INTEGRA Biosciences and MACHEREY-NAGEL partner to automate NucleoSpin nucleic acid purification kits
, /in Product News /by panglobalINTEGRA Biosciences has collaborated closely with nucleic acid extraction experts MACHEREY-NAGEL (MN) to develop automated protocols for a variety of NucleoSpin RNA and DNA extraction and purification kits on the ASSIST PLUS pipetting robot. The combination of these technologies provides high quality, purity and yield for DNA and RNA extracts from varied specimen types, suitable for use in a range of applications.
Each MN kit comes in a 96 well format, and can be easily automated on the ASSIST PLUS using a 12 channel 1250 μl VIAFLO electronic pipette with 1250 μl Sterile, Filter GripTips. Preset, biologically validated protocols can be quickly downloaded through VIALAB software, offering walk-away pipetting and incubation for:
Automating liquid handling tasks using the ASSIST PLUS eliminates ergonomic hazards and provides more hands-free time for the user. Pipetting errors and variability between users are avoided, and the validated workflows consistently guarantee maximum reproducibility. In addition, the flexibility of this system ensures that it will always have a purpose in the lab, and can be used to simplify a wide range of general life sciences and diagnostics tasks for far-reaching applications.
Bio-Rad extends range of StarBright Violet and UltraViolet dyes for multiplex flow cytometry
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“The continued expansion of the Bio-Rad StarBright Dye portfolio, currently totalling 17 dyes, nine of which are StarBright violet dyes, gives researchers greater flexibility and choice when designing flow cytometry panels, by providing high-performance dyes excitable at a range of wavelengths,” said Mike Blundell, PhD, Bio-Rad Product Manager, Flow Cytometry, Life Science Group. “The exceptional brightness and unique profile of the dyes delivers enhanced resolution of rare populations and low-density antigens.”
Torrey Pines introduces new EchoTherm HPLC Column Oven
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The unit holds columns up to 30 cm long by ¼” or 3/8” diameter in mounting clips provided with room for guard columns and fittings. Larger diameter columns may be used by removing the column clips that hold the smaller columns.
The CO20 features simple controls, digital display of target and actual chamber temperatures, an injection counter, and 30-day timer with alarm and user settable Auto-Off. An accessory stand is available.
The unit operates from 12 volts DC and comes with a bench top universal power supply for use anywhere in the world, 3-wire AC line cord for the country of use, counter cable, twelve month warranty and instruction manual. The Model CO20 is UL, CSA, and CE compliant.