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In this issue of T3 Update Online, “Tips from the Club” will highlight several capabilities of the Biomek® FXP and NXP systems that can are not immediately visible but can be easily accessed with just a little guidance. While not a substitute for our world-class Customer Technical Support group, the Club Biomek Web Forum does serve as an easily-accessed repository for information.
Dispense to 96/384 Disposable Tip Wash Station http://forums.beckmancoulter.com/index.php?showtopic=218 The Biomek Disposable Tip Wash Station ALP is a commonly-used on-deck device that uses a flow of water or other liquid to wash the disposable tips on the Multichannel or Span-8 pod. In its typical use, empty-but-used tips that may be contaminated internally and externally from prior usage are brought to the Wash Station, where aspiration and dispensing operations are performed to rinse them. Many Biomek users have requested the ability to use the Wash Station as a location to discard liquid without invoking the washing function. The usual Transfer or Dispense steps do not normally work with the Wash Station, which is considered a special, reserved labware type that is not accessible via the routine steps. The decision to implement it this way was intentional, and streamlines the use of the wash station for typical cases. However, it is quite easy to make the Wash Station labware visible to Transfer and Dispense steps, so that the wash station can be used as a location to discard excess liquid from a plate or left over in tips after a pipetting operation. The thread described above describes how to accomplish this. Adapted Transfers http://forums.beckmancoulter.com/index.php?showtopic=725 The Biomek software allows users to write methods that are dynamic, in that the actions the liquid handler performs may be determined by data that shows up during the run, either in the form of user input, a data file such as a worklist, or information from a device such as a reader. Because of this, most Biomek steps available to method authors can react at run time to such information. Common examples would be the use of variables to specify pipetting volumes from a worklist, or choice of wells to use for a transfer operation in a “Transfer from File” step. The Transfer step can even recognize that a different labware type is present at runtime as compared with when the step was configured, and pipette properly based on the actual labware. So, if the step was configured assuming a deep well plate, and in fact a regular height plate is placed onto the plate map at runtime based on user input, the system will use all the correct pipetting parameters appropriate to the plate that is there. However, there are some intended limitations to this reactivity. Plates of different formats can't replace the ones configured in the steps. Similarly, there are some restrictions on different reservoir types. Several interesting use cases have come up that would be enabled if the plate format issues could be resolved. To allow these uses, customized steps, often referred to as Adapted Transfer Steps, have been developed and can be obtained via the web forum. The links above will take you to the topic threads where the use of these special steps is described. That's all for this issue! Check back next issue for more highlights from the Club Biomek User Forum. Please click here to send us feedback on the types of forum highlights you would like to see.
For Research Use Only; not for use in diagnostic procedures. For comments or questions about T3 Update, please contact the T3 Editor. Email this page to a colleague
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