The Labcyte Echo liquid handling platform provides high-speed, low-volume, contamination-free reagent dispensing and total assay assembly for protein, cell-based, and DNA-based assays.
Advantages of assay miniaturization using the Echo liquid handler
• Precise transfer of reagents. Fifty nanoliters of twelve different protein assay kit reagents from commercial vendors was transferred with the Echo with excellent precision. Increased precision of reagent transfer improves precision of results.
• Cost effective assay miniaturization. Reduction of PCR to 384-well and 1536-well formats is often limited by the ability to effectively transfer sample and reagent to higher density formats. In this example the amount of cDNA required to perform PCR to was reduced to <2 ng/mL per reaction in a 1536-well plate.
• Enhanced efficiency of reactions without dilution error. Removal of the need to serial dilute to small concentrations improves assay performance at lower volumes and concentrations. For example, in siRNA applications, increased transfection efficiency was observed using direct transfer of volumes under 100 nL.
• Elimination of cross contamination. Without tip-based dispensing or washing, there is no chance of carryover between wells, even in high density applications such as 1536-well qPCR. In this example, one cDNA containing sample was transferred to positive wells (green) surrounded by eight samples containing buffer only (red).
• Consistent Results. Hands-off operation without limitations caused by tips and washing results in a more precise experiment. The example below demonstrates consistent 1536-well qPCR with low variation (1.1% CV) of crosspoint (Cp) values.
Omics Package
The Echo capabilities can be fully realized with software features bundled in the Echo Omics Package:
- Echo 550 or 555 liquid handler
- Pre-calibrated for a wide range of biological solutions
- Pre-calibrated for 384LDV and 384PP source plates
- Your choice of Echo Plate Reformat or Echo Cherry Pick software