Recent Articles in IT Solutions and Laboratory Automation
Aug 5, 2021
A new approach to tackling the spread of malaria in sub-Saharan Africa, which combines affordable, easy-to-administer blood tests with machine learning and unbreakable encryption, has generated encouraging early results in Uganda. Malaria is one of the world's leading causes of illness and death, sickening around 228 million people each year, more than 400,000 of them fatally. Like COVID-19, malaria can spread asymptomatically, making widespread field testing vital to containing outbreaks and saving lives. ...
Markes International (Bridgend, UK) has signed an agreement with Istituti Clinici Scientifici Maugeri (‘ICS Maugeri’) of Italy to become distributors of ICS Maugeri’s radiello® range of passive samplers. Radiello is a well-established range of radial diffusive (passive) sampling devices for air sampling. The range of samplers are used for a wide range of analytes from volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and phenols through to nitrous and sulphur dioxides, aldehydes and more...
Eli Lilly and Company and their industry partners, including sample management specialists – Ziath, are speeding the discovery of new medicines through the fully automated Lilly Life Sciences Studio (L2S2) lab in San Diego, USA. L2S2 was set up as part of the Lilly Discovery Automation Research and Technologies Group. The lab has brought together a team of talented automation engineers and scientists in the design, implementation, and operation of a variety of innovative automation projects which are introduced in an informative video...
At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, Dr Mason and his team set about turning their knowledge of functional genomics to sequencing and understanding the clinical impact of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. The lab developed multiple methods to detect infections, track strain evolution, and identify biomarkers of disease course to assist with clinical identification and treatment....
Agilent Technologies Inc., has announced the availability of an optimized and verified eMethod for PFAS Analysis in Water by LC/TQ for testing per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in drinking and surface water using liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry. PFAS—known as ‘Forever Chemicals’—are a group of man-made chemicals that include PFOA, PFOS, GenX, and many others....
A new Zero-Bubble septa (ZB Seal™ Closure) has been engineered and designed by (ILT) specifically for EPA vials. This revolutionary compression molded PTFE/Silicone liner is assembled into a 24-414 Heavy Walled cap to create the ZB SEAL™ Closure system. This complete liner system reduces liner fallout and enhances long term storage of samples....
Excellims Corporation (Excellims), a leading provider of high performance ion mobility spectrometers (High Performance IMS) and Compact Ion Mobility Mass Spectrometry (MS), signals its commitment to the pharmaceutical industry with the introduction of GMP-compliant at-line PAT (process analytical technology) and an increasing body of literature demonstrating its value in pharmaceutical applications...
Merck, a leading science and technology company, has announced the winners of this year’s Future Insight Prize. The € 1 million prize in the category of “Food Generation” was awarded during the Future Insight Days in Darmstadt, Germany, to Ting Lu, Professor of Bioengineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, USA, and Stephen Techtmann, Associate Professor of Biological Sciences at Michigan Technological University, USA....
The Mohawk semi-automated tube picker from Ziath is a compact system that sets the standard for frozen or thawed sample tube picking from 96-position racks. The Mohawk has been designed to work out of the box, and needs no set up or calibration. Instrument control is through the new user-friendly software which provides an intuitive interface for easy operation....
FreeLIMS, a cloud-based COVID-19 LIMS solution, enables laboratories to increase testing throughput and meet the unprecedented demand for COVID-19 testing and research. FreeLIMS enables COVID-19 testing laboratories to securely manage samples and test results, protect Personally Identifiable Information (PII) of patients, assure the accuracy of test results, and generate custom test reports with ease...
Ziath reports on ground-breaking use of Artificial Intelligence that enables discrimination between empty wells in sample tube racks from wells with a tube present which may have an obscured or poorly rendered barcode. This pioneering work, done in conjunction with the University of Hertfordshire (UK), is part of a program of development for the next generation of Ziath barcoded tube scanners due to launch around the end of 2021....
Metrohm DropSens has announced new capabilities that facilitate the high-volume production of customized electrochemical sensors. Custom sensors are manufactured through a highly scalable and cost-effective manufacturing process with virtually no quantity limits. Metrohm DropSens supports the entire development and production process, from initial conceptualization to in-depth prototype design....
Many people in the laboratory industry will have heard of Autoscribe Informatics and its Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS) solution, Matrix Gemini. Autoscribe celebrates 40 years in business this year, making it one of the earliest suppliers of LIMS. Founded in 1981, Autoscribe Ltd is a privately owned UK Company. Over the years it has expanded to have staff and offices in USA and Australia as well as a network of distributors worldwide....
Waters Corporation has introduced TRIOS AutoPilot software from its TA Instruments Division for its thermal analyzer product line. The software helps laboratory staff using TA’s thermal analyzers create routine and streamlined standard operating procedures (SOPs) up to 25% faster, and avoid transcription errors that can inhibit productivity and can lead to inconsistent thermal analysis measurements that are used to assess materials performance as well as batch-to-batch product quality....
Tecan has announced a highly anticipated software upgrade for one of its flagship products, the Fluent® Automation Workstation. The new FluentControl Scheduler offers a number of features designed to simplify day-to-day laboratory automation for significantly increased throughput and workflow efficiency. This software has been developed in response to customer feedback and an in-depth understanding of future market needs, with intelligent and user-friendly features that help labs heighten productivity...
Scitara Corporation, an innovator in digital transformation and an emerging leader in delivering data connectivity to scientific laboratories, continues to deliver new releases in the Scitara Digital Lab Exchange (DLX™) cloud platform to bring next generation data connectivity and automation to scientific laboratories. Combining the benefits of modern cloud-based architecture with a vendor-neutral peer-to-peer platform with robust security...
Waters and The Bioprocessing Technology Institute (BTI) are engaging in data analytics research meant to eliminate a major bottleneck in the characterization of biopharmaceuticals, namely the identification and quantitation of complex biomolecules such as released N- and O- glycans and metabolites that influence therapeutic function. Isomerism of both glycans and metabolites is particularly troublesome and can be tackled using Waters’ advanced instruments....
Biotage is pleased to announce the launch of Biotage® PhyPrep, a new automated platform for plasmid DNA purification that releases laboratory staff from the tedium of repetitive, manual labor – and takes full advantage of the PhyTip® columns’ dual flow chromatography technology, to yield supercoiled, endotoxin-free, transfection-grade plasmid DNA....
FreeLIMS announces the release of a secure, configurable LIMS for agriculture and farming, available at no charge, for agriculture testing laboratories across the globe. It enables agriculture testing laboratories to manage data, improve data quality by reducing manual errors, deliver accurate and quick test results, and improve workflow standardization with ease. FreeLIMS also enables agriculture laboratories to overcome day-to-day challenges, such as managing and tracking samples...
3Brain AG has announced a new technology based on a unique combination of microchips and AI that promises to change the way drug candidates are selected at the preclinical level to enter into clinical trials – and to maximize their chances of success. Using CorePlate™ technology, preclinical cell assays are performed in multiwell plates that integrate a microchip in each well to collect rich information from cells, pre-process cell data and streamline it to the paired software....
Ziath has posted a new video that shows how its Mohawk semi-automated tube selector is a productive and versatile tool for cherry picking tubes from multiple racks. In the new video - product manager Avash Anderson demonstrates how the Mohawk provides secure and accurate picking of individual 2D-barcoded tubes from 96-place SBS format racks - quickly and easily....
Autoscribe Informatics releases v6.0 of Matrix Gemini LIMS. V6.0 is a major technological upgrade, that also provides users with an enhanced calculation engine and additional multi language support. The extended calculation engine makes it even simpler to derive the complex final results that a laboratory needs from the raw analytical data, as well as providing support for other calculations that may be required throughout the system...