Sample Preparation
Problem: While laboratory instruments have become faster and more automated to increase productivity, sample preparation has continued to remain a bottleneck and source of variability for most labs. The complexity and variety of samples that typically pass through labs makes this area one of the most difficult to automate.
Sample preparation reduces sample complexity and renders samples into a format amenable to downstream analysis. Sample prep is most necessary for complex, multicomponent samples containing substances that interfere either with the MS (e.g., through ion suppression) or, in GC/LC-MS, the chromatography.
Sample preparation (“prep”) is a tedious, time-consuming task but a necessary part of nearly every analytical workflow, regardless of industry or laboratory type.
Arguing against lab automation is becoming more difficult, particularly for sample prep. With reagents and solvents costing what they do, a business case based on direct cost savings for critical materials stands on its own.
Despite protestations to the contrary, automation is not something to undertake casually. Due to the dizzying array of possibilities and workflows, the technology has not yet achieved the simplicity of consumer products.
A comprehensive review of sample preparation would require a multivolume work. Beyond that, covering the possible number of workflows given the hundreds of potential “unit operations” would fill an encyclopedia, especially when solids (rock, soil, animal tissue) are considered.
A Question and Answer with Select Automated Sample Prep Experts
Provides a faster, trouble-free alternative to cartridges for high throughput sample clean-up.
