www.laboratoryfocus.ca mance for customers who need additional safety beyond a HEPA filtered hood.
Automated incubators Because cells require temperature, pH control, and humidity to maintain viability and grow in culture, automated incubators play a vital role in an automated cell culture system. Automated incubators allow researchers to store many different cell culture microplate types, track them by barcode, and interface them nicely with a liquid handler. These incubators come in a wide range of capacities to meet virtually any lab’s needs. In addition to the environmental control, automated incubator vendors offer decontamination prevention features such as metal inner chambers, water-panfree humidification by steam injection, and a multitude of cleaning options. Hamilton liquid handling robotics easily interfaces with these devices. The incubators can be fully controlled through the VENUS software, and all of the contents are fully tracked through an inventory database, allowing removal and processing of the plates on the liquid handler any time.
Automated cytometers Confluence imagers, or cytometers, are another key tool for maintaining cells in culture at the correct density. Automated Cytometers Interface and are controlled by Hamilton’s VENUS software, allowing complete automation of the imaging process. Important factors to consider when selecting a confluence imager are the imaging technique (i.e., bright field or fluorescent), throughput, and whole-well imaging capabilities, as well as the ability to process a variety of multi-well plate types. Other critical traits of imagers include resolution and contrast, software usability/stability, and data acquisition.
Conclusion The use of cells for biological research, therapies, and drug discovery is on the rise, and automation is the key to solving large bottlenecks and issues related to manual cell culture processing. As government regulators and large biotech and pharmaceutical companies become more involved in stem cell therapies and drug development from cell cultures, even more attention will be placed on standardized automation procedures
17
Laboratory Focus November 2013 to provide larger volumes of high-quality cells. The good news is that today, culture parameters can be completely automated, controlled, and tracked while increasing throughput and reducing labour costs. It takes effort and is no small undertaking to adapt a bench protocolWSCS13 to automation. ConAd 8.125x10.875.pdf
sulting with an expert when setting up a system is very important. In addition, be sure to look at your facility’s infrastructure (electrical, layout and workflow, high-pressure air and vacuum, and data networks) to ensure there is flexibility when adapting an automated setup. 1
10/4/13
1:56 PM
If you would like more information about the Hamilton Robotics cell culture workstations, contact Hamilton Robotics at 1-800-648-
FEATURE 5950 or visit their website www.hamiltonrobotics. com.
To see this story online visit http://www.laboratoryfocus.ca/?p=1974
