LabAutomation 2006 - SLAS

Where Laboratory Technologies Emerge and Merge
11:00 am Tuesday, January 24, 2006 Track 2: Micro- and Nanotechnologies Room: Pasadena
Wyndham Palm Springs Hotel
Achim Wixforth
University of Augsburg
Augsburg, Germany
achim.wixforth@physik.uni-augsburg.de
F I N A L I S T
Acoustically Driven Programmable Microfluidics for Biological and Chemical Applications
A novel approach towards the needs of a versatile microfluidic chip-based microfluidic system with unique properties and functionality
is presented. Like for microarrays and in contrast to many existing microfluidic technologies, the fluid handling is performed on the flat
surface of a programmable chip, where fluidic tracks and functional blocks such as valves, dispensers, mixers, and sensing elements are
chemically defined using standard lithographic techniques. The actuation of the fluid, the driving and adressing of the functional elements
as well as possible sensors are based on electrically excited mechanical acoustic waves, propagating along the surface of a chip. The
combination of such fluidic networks and our unique pumping technology results in fully programmable microfluidic processor chips. The
whole system has no moving parts, and is easily fabricated employing standard semiconductor technologies. Moreover, due to the planar
nature of the chip all functional blocks are readily accessible from the outside, e.g., by pipettes or spotting robots. This unique feature
makes our programmable fluidic processors fully compatible to existing laboratory environments and most any chemical and biological
processes and assays.
Typical areas for the application of this novel technology are the hybridization of DNA or proteomic microarrays, on-chip polymerase chain
reactions, and cell assays, where single cell manipulation at the planar surface of a chip can be performed. Apart from giving a detailed
introduction to the basics of our technology we present a variety of different applications.
11:30 am Tuesday, January 24, 2006 Track 2: Micro- and Nanotechnologies Room: Pasadena
Wyndham Palm Springs Hotel
Scott Mosser
Co-Author(s)
Merck And Company
John Fay
West Point, Pennsylvania
Wei Lemarie
scott_mosser@merck.com
Thomas Harkins
Kenneth Koblan
Stefanie Kane
Rodney Bednar
A Critical Evaluation of the Mosquito (A Low Volume Liquid Handler): A Tool for Drug
Discovery
The preparation of plates for primary and secondary screening requires the application of sophisticated liquid handling equipment to
cope with the range of dispensation volumes and assay formats. The Mosquito is a low volume (0.05 to 1.2 uL) pipettor that uses
positive-displacement, disposable tips to aspirate and dispense liquids. This instrument, made by TTP LabTech (http://www.ttplabtech.
com/mosquito), has a number of unique features and applications for the drug discovery process. For instance, it can facilitate the
miniaturization of assays by allowing for serial dilutions on a microliter scale and the creation of assay ready drug plates.
This talk will discuss the uses of the Mosquito in the drug discovery workflow and provide a critical evaluation of the instrument. The
incorporation of the Mosquito into our drug discovery process has made a direct impact on workflow efficiency and productivity in our
laboratory. This low volume liquid handler has given us the ability to remove unnecessary work, reduce the volumes of costly reagents and
waste, and conserve on valuable compound. In addition, it has enabled lowering of DMSO concentrations in sensitive assays, provided low
volume assay ready plates and maintained the accuracy and precision of our dose inhibition curves.
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