Cover Story | May 2012
Insights on Automated Liquid Handling
A Lab Manager Magazine technology buyer’s report
Cover Story | May 2012
A Lab Manager Magazine technology buyer’s report
Automated liquid handling (ALH) grew from the high-throughput needs of medical diagnostic labs in the late 1980s through the 1990s and then received an additional boost from genomic sequencing. As it evolved from a specialized, expert-driven instrument system to a generalized laboratory workstation, ALH has become more accessible to more workers in more labs.
Service and maintenance for liquid handling equipment are approximately the same as for a liquid chromatography system, but the type of service differs. All vendors offer typical levels of on-site service, with premium plans including preventive maintenance visits.
For companies processing hundreds or thousands of plates per day, one could build a business case for switching to an automated pipetting system on throughput alone. Robots are faster and less expensive to feed and care for than humans are.
In this Q&A, five expert end-users from both academia and industry discuss the automated liquid handling systems they use in their labs, what they are used for, and how they went about choosing the systems.
Find out how ultra-fast, full spectrum DNA measurements are performed on the SPECTROstar Nano in three different volume formats: microplates, cuvettes, and low volume samples.