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Dear Readers, Welcome to the latest issue of Micr
While there is a need for accuracy in pharmaceutical research, there is even a greater need for speed. Recent advancements in research have focused on methods for maximizing speed while still allowing for sufficient accuracy.
High-throughput experimentation (HTE) and high-throughput screening (HTS) allow researchers to conduct hundreds of chemical or biological transformations and evaluations, respectively, in a parallel fashion. The major limitations of these methods are sample preparation.
Historically, sample preparation has been achieved by laboriously performing hundreds of identical manipulations of chemical or biological samples. These manipulations are tedious and error-prone.
Inconsistencies in sample and reagent preparation can greatly affect experiment outcome and alter the overall reaction. It has been shown that the implementation of automation and robotics within the field of chemistry and biological research has significantly reduced preparation and process errors.
In addition, researcher productivity and overall throughput of a laboratory has also increased. Undoubtedly, these positive trends will continue, and ultimately researchers will be liberated from mundane sample manipulations and preparation.
High-Throughput Experimentation (HTE) and High-Throughput Screening (HTS) are methods to quickly perform many experiments and analyze the results. The challenges occur during the sample preparation. Each individual reaction may contain many different ingredients (e.g. chemicals, solvents, catalysts, etc.) which may not be easily identifiable to the researcher.
Prior to HTE, the manual nature of research limited the number of compounds that could be screened to 20-50 compounds per week. A research initiative to screen 3000 compounds would take about 1 to 2 years, and delays in research often negatively impact the competitiveness of a lab.
With HTE and automated sample preparation, thousands of reactions can be performed in a week. At this rate, a research backlog to screen 3000 compounds would only take a few weeks.
As thousands of reactions can be performed with HTE, the focus of research can be on the fundamental chemistry as opposed to the variability which can be introduced by sample preparation.
Preparing samples manually is relatively simple when only a small number of samples are involved. However, things quickly become difficult and time consuming when many samples are being processed. Preparing samples can be frustrating, especially when the sample is a powder and has properties which make it stick to surfaces and/or carry an electrostatic charge.
Manipulation of toxic and hazardous powders by hand increases the risk of exposure of sample powders to the laboratory personnel. Containment devices, such as glove boxes, greatly reduce exposure risk, but can restrict movement and make weighing powder samples even more difficult.
Using devices which require the repeated movement of the arms and/or hands for long periods of time increases the risk of injury and makes awkward movements fatiguing. Decreased concentration increases the likelihood of sample loss and transcription errors.
Use of automation for sample preparation moves personnel away to other activities and reduces the risk of sample loss and transcription errors. In addition, automation can provide better control over the laboratory processes and reduce the amount of sample utilized, all while reducing the strain placed on the personnel.
The CHRONECT XPR system from METTLER TOLEDO combines an XPR Automatic Balance with a 6-axis robotic arm to automate powder weighing and dispensing. Instead of requiring a scientist to remain at the balance throughout the process, the system supports unattended operation after the samples and method have been set up.
ITS can perform 288 sample preparations in one run using a set of three, 96-well vial plates. It can work with vials of 1 mL to 8 mL, which allows flexibility in choosing a reaction volume. Depending on the dimension of sample containers, the reaction volumes can be larger.
The system can load and store up to 32 different powders. This is ideal for simultaneous screening of multi-component reactions.
The dispensing technology can measure and dispense as low as 1 mg of a powder, which supports minimize the use of lab reagents.
The system is designed to support, and accelerate a wide range of laboratory activities. The infographic suggests the system can dose 900 or more compounds in a 24 hour period.
Automating HTS and HTE reduces the amount of sample needed to process a given assay. Manual methods typically use a minimum of 1 µL of sample. Automated methods can reduce this to 100 µL (90% reduction). Various advantages of automation and reducing the volume of a sample become apparent.
Less sample is required for a given assay and reagents are used more efficiently. It may allow testing of sample types that were previously too costly or unavailable.
Of course, reducing the volume of a sample provides fewer opportunities to make up for sampling errors. Variability in a sample dispensing step that may not affect the final concentration of a 1mL sample may significantly impact concentration of a 100 µL sample.
The CHRONECT XPR and other automated sample preparation systems use a combination of automated weighing and sample handling to provide a means to prepare and process samples in small volumes. The overall goal of METTLER TOLEDO is to bridge the automation gap that currently exists between formulation and sample preparation.
Automation should enhance both the performance and the data of a given laboratory process. Automated systems should track what they have dispensed and how they have prepared a sample. Linking automated systems to experimental design provides the laboratory personnel with a means of track sampling in the course of an experiment.
The CHRONECT XPR offers a laboratory system to design and perform experiments using the CHRONOS software. Scientists can determine the experimental design and take control of their experiments. The software also provides scientists with the opportunity to analyze the data and track the experiment. The data flow is structured and documented in an automated format.
Process automation improves data by 18% according to the infographic. Traditionally, omissions and mix-ups occur during the formation and documentation of processes. Laboratory personnel must perform numerous tasks to document their processes. Automation reduces the requirement of laboratory personnel to document processes.
The process of documenting an experiment and sampling can be automated. The history of process documentation can be used to analyze and understand process variability. This information can be used to troubleshoot processes to ensure the sample being prepared is sampled and processed correctly.
The best part of automation is freeing up scientists to do more valuable work. Designing syntheses, analysis of promising comports, elucidation of mechanisms, and interpretation of data are intellectual activities that cannot be meaningfully performed by machines.
Routine laboratories tasks, such as weighing and preparation of samples, are activities that can be standardized and automated. The infographic shows that the automation of laboratories tasks can lead to a reduction in time to perform an assay by 30%, and reduced time for the development of pharmaceutical and chemical compounds from weeks to days.
Reducing time for assays allows researchers to evaluate a greater number of conditions and perform more experiments. It also speeds up the progression of advanced candidates to the next step.
Many scientists agree that, in order to gain better control over research activities and increase reproducibility of scientific work, research activities should be automated. Automation of research processes becomes especially necessary to address the overwhelming demand for new, innovative products. METTLER TOLEDO has developed CHRONECT XPR, a system integrating automation and digital controls for lab activities, to help the scientific community achieve better controls and more effective means for automating research.
HTS and HTE have raised expectations of what is achievable in automated reaction screening. Although sophisticated instruments can test thousands of conditions, the sample preparation step may limit throughput. For example, delays may be introduced if samples are weighed manually. In addition, variability and inefficiency may be introduced if an incorrect mass is assigned to a sample due to weighing errors.
The robotic automation of sample preparation can overcome these problems. High-throughput robotic systems can process hundreds of samples in a single cycle and can work with tiny sample amounts. In addition, these systems can work with a large variety of chemical samples and a large number of different powders.
Relying on robotic systems to perform sample preparation can lead to significant improvement of laboratory work. For example, errors can be decreased by 50% and the time needed to attain a final result can be reduced by 30%.
These improvements can be particularly beneficial for the sample preparation step required prior to automation of reaction screening. Thus, researchers can concentrate on less routine and more interesting activities.
More information can be found here: www.mt.com/chronect-xpr
METTLER TOLEDO is a global leader in precision instruments and services. We are renowned for innovation and quality across laboratory, process analytics, industrial, product inspection, and retailing applications. Our sales and service network is one of the most extensive in the industry. Our products are sold in more than 140 countries, and we have a direct presence in approximately 40 countries.
For more information, please visit www.mt.com.
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