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The Super UHTS Robot E (S.U.R.E.) Series Ψ4 Workstation

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Yoshito Shibuya, Kenji Ogino, Takahiro Nakamura, Beckman Coulter K.K.

Introduction

Beckman Coulter K.K. (Japan) successfully introduced the Super UHTS Robot E (S.U.R.E.) series Ψ4 in early 2005. The S.U.R.E. system, shown above, is based on the Biomek® FX Dual Bridge Multichannel Workstation and equipped with some fully customized new modules, developed by IS Technology, Inc. (Tsukuba, Japan), a Japanese high-technology company. The S.U.R.E. system is fully controlled by Beckman Coulter’s SAMI® 3.5 scheduling software which provides the customer with significant flexibility for method development while minimizing the complexity of programming the industrial type robot. The S.U.R.E. system combined custom elements of hardware and software to enable the system to achieve one of the highest throughputs in the world.

Major concepts of the system

World’s fastest liquid handling system
New transport systems included to maximize the capability of the Biomek FX’s Dual Bridge Workstation
High-throughput and capacity to footprint ratio
SAMI scheduling software system
Supports 1536-well plate assays

System Overview

The S.U.R.E. system consists of both newly developed custom components and some standard components. The new custom components include: three slider tracts that serve to move plates under the deck of the FX, the specially designed Biomek FX deck ALP, the Plate Server, the Tip Server and the industrial dual-arm robot. The dual-arm industrial robot enabled the independent transport of labware to and from integrated devices. The standard devices integrated into the system were the Cytomat* 6000 CO2 incubator (Thermo) and the 1430 ViewLux* ultraHTS Microplate Imager (Perkin Elmer).

All compound, assay and cell plates are transported to the deck of the FX via the custom slider transport from each connected plate server. The sliders that run underneath the FX deck, could deliver the plates to both sides of FX deck without using Biomek resources. This alternative transport mechanism allows the system to use the both bridges independently, which means the FX can be used in effect as "two" independent systems. The system is designed with three sliders to maximize transport capabilities. Each module which consists of a slider and tip server operates independently under its own software commands controlled by SAMI under the SILAS™ technology.

In addition, the S.U.R.E. system utilizes a nice feature called the stacker concept. All plates and tips are carried into the system by a "stacker". The stacker concept avoids the tedious job for the user to put the each plate and tip box one by one onto the hotel shelf, stacks of plates or tip boxes are moved at once. Another improvement built into this system is ability to shuck tips at designated positions without having to return to the tip rack. This innovation allows users to dispose of used tips and tip racks separately.


The dual-arm robot allows for labware transport to/from side-by-side integrated devices with one movement.	The customized Biomek FX Deck can hold up to six 1536-well microplates. simultaneously.

The S.U.R.E. system has three sliders that run under the deck of the FX.

S.U.R.E. System Specifications
Available Labware:	96 / 384/ 1536 SBS Standard Plate Half Deep Plate (<H:24 mm) Half Tall Reservoir(<H:24 mm)
Capacity:	96 tip racks per tip server x 2 sets 160 plates per plate server x 2 sets
Transfer Time:	<30sec /1Plate
Liquid handling:	<4min(384head×4times)

Experimental design to determine throughput comparisons between the S.U.R.E. system and the Biomek FX Workstation.

Labware:

Tip rack - 41 rack
Plate

Cell plate - 40 plates
Compound plate - 40 plates

Reservoir - 1 plate

Simulation protocol

1. Add compounds from compound plate to cell plate
2. Return compound plates to their original position
3. Dispose of tips.
4. Add reagent from reagent reservoir to cell plate
5. Return cell plates to their original position.
6. Tips will be reused.

Device and Capacity

S.U.R.E. Biomek FX Dual Bridge Workstation

Plate Storage Cytomat CO2incubator - 189 plates
Plate Server - 320 plates Cytomat CO2incubator - 189 plates

Tip Storage Tip Server - 160 racks Cytomat Ambient - 63 racks

Max. Capacity 160 family 63 family

Method Interface for S.U.R.E Systems:

Click Image to Enlarge

SAMI 3.5 for the S.U.R.E system

Method Interface for Biomek FX Workstation Systems:

Click Image to Enlarge

SAMI-EX for Biomek FX Workstation

Results

Using the simulation protocol, 40 families were scheduled. The result, as shown below, indicates that the S.U.R.E. system takes only 1 hour 45 min. to process 40 families, while the Biomek FX workstation, with the latest software and hardware needs 2 hours 32 min to complete the simulation run. This indicates that the S.U.R.E. system processes at a throughput rate 30% faster than that of the Biomek FX workstation.

Click Image to Enlarge

S.U.R.E. system takes only 1 hour 45 min. to process 40 families

Click Image to Enlarge
Biomek FX workstation, with the latest software and hardware, takes 2 hours 32 min to process 40 families

Summary

The S.U.R.E system was developed as a fully customized system to meet the needs specified by a Japanese customer. The custom components utilized for this system can be replicated for other to meet the needs of any customer who is looking to increase the throughput and system capacity of their workstation within a small footprint. Beckman Coulter K.K. (Japan) will continue to provide automated solutions to satisfy the needs of all customers in the Drug Discovery and Life Science marketplace.

* All trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

For Research Use Only; not for use in diagnostic procedures.

Additional Information:

For comments or questions about T³ Update, please contact David Daniels, Ph.D., editor.