Key features
Overview
The Pre-Analysis Module is used to check for the presence of desired compounds within samples. Vial racks and analytical well plates are manually loaded to a user rack hotel using a handheld scanner. From here they are transferred to an internal buffer storage hotel before being passed into the liquid handler using a 4-axis collaborative robot arm.
Vials are imaged to confirm that no solids are present and then de-capped so a sample can be taken. Liquid level detection is used to aspirate from the top of the vial and the sample is dispensed into a well plate. Plates are sealed before they leave the liquid handler and then are loaded into an LC-MS (Liquid Chromatography – Mass Spectrometry) system for analysis.
After analysis, the robot arm places the plate in a bin. Depending on the results of the analysis, the vial either moves onto the next module or is drained and binned if no product is detected. The system was designed and built specifically for AstraZeneca, and uses Biosero’s Green Button Go (GBG) scheduling software.