Measuring the performance of an automated liquid delivery device precisely and accurately requires verifying the performance of individual channel and dispenses using very small volumes of liquid. Also the process must be user-friendly, fast and robust for the laboratories to use it frequently without much downtime. In the past, several methods for such multi-channel equipment calibration have been used with varying degrees of success like gravimetry, fluorometry and photometry. Artel’s latest laboratory innovation, MVS ADVANCED, promises to fulfill all the above parameters for automated liquid handlers by providing a customizable and portable device for conducting volumetric measurements within few minutes, there by strengthening the confidence in laboratory data.
Based on Ratiometric Photometry, the MVS ADVANCED is designed to determine the precision and accuracy of each channel and dispense in a multi-channel liquid delivery device, with up to 384 channels, in a single experiment. It uses the Beer-Lambert law, which states that when light passes through a solution containing some concentration of dye, the amount of light absorbed by the dye solution is proportional to both the concentration of dye and the interaction path length of the light with the solution. It implies that if both the molar absorptivity and concentration of the dye solution are known and closely controlled, an unknown path length traversed by a photometric light beam can be determined. The MVS ADVANCED uses this law to measure the volume of the liquid precisely and accurately regardless of the environmental influences in the lab.
The MVS ADVANCED can optimize automated liquid handling instrumentation with test solutions with the same viscosity as solutions used in actual assays. The system can be used in conjunction with standard microtiter plates and can be integrated with existing automated liquid handlers also. Since the system’s entire verification process is completed in less than 10 minutes, MVS ADVANCED allows for more frequent checks ensuring greater data integrity. Used on a bench-top, it also provides traceable data, facilitating regulatory compliance. Using the MVS ADVANCED, laboratories can now ensure that their automated liquid handlers are dispensing volumes to specification, maximizing equipment and assay productivity.
