The seventh annual International Conference and Exhibition of the Society for Lab Automation and Screening (SLAS) was held February 3–7 in San Diego, CA. More than 300 companies turned up to the exhibition to display their latest wares. Among the dazzling array of new products presented at the conference the were 50 that had been submitted by their manufacturers for consideration for New Product Awards. To qualify, entries must have been less than one year old and available for purchase commercially within 90 days before and after the conference. Products in the running were judged by impact, market opportunity, originality, and proof of concept. The three winners of the SLAS2018 New Product Awards were FORMULATRIX’s Constellation digital PCR system, iotaSciences’ isoCell, and Labcyte’s Echo 655T Acoustic Liquid Handler.
With the CONSTELLATION, FORMULATRIX has delivered a high-throughput digital PCR platform. Thomas Rawlins, marketing manager, explained that the company’s goal was to make the technology accessible to researchers seeking its precision, but for whom the required time and cost has been prohibitive. The CONSTELLATION’s plate-based digital PCR workflow is similar to that of qPCR, and the instrument accommodates five-color multiplexing and can process as many as four plates per run. Each well of the system’s 96-well plates is composed of 8,000 microfluidic chambers, into which sample is partitioned (24-well plates with 36,000 chambers per well are also available if more sensitivity is required). Following sample amplification, the CONSTELLATION images the plate and, based on fluorescence of target DNA, detects and counts the chambers that are positive for it.
Partitioning is also key in the effectiveness of iotaScience’s isoCell. The instrument applies lines of immiscible oil on a plate containing a thin layer of cell culture media, thus forming a microGRID. The isoCell then dispenses a dilute solution of cells into the microGRID. The microGRID’s clarity results in excellent optics under a microscope, ensuring that single cells are correctly identified and selected to be grown into clonal populations.
Labcyte held a press conference to introduce its Echo 655T Acoustic Liquid Handler. Naturally, like all products in the Echo line, the new system is driven by acoustic droplet ejection, as explained by Mark Fischer-Colbrie, the company’s president and CEO, as the technology with which ultrasonic acoustic energy transfers volumes as small as 2.5 nl. The 655T distinguishes itself from its predecessor by enabling transfer directly from acoustically compatible tubes, as well as from 384- and 1536-well microplates. With its Echo 21CFR11 Compliance Manager software, the system is ready for use in regulated lab environments.
TDA wishes the award-winning companies, as well as the others who entered the competition, much success with their innovative and novel products.