Eggert Sebastian, Mieszczanek Pawel, Meinert Christoph, Hutmacher Dietmar W
Centre in Regenerative Medicine, Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane 4000, QLD, Australia.
School of Mechanical, Medical and Process Engineering, Science and Engineering Faculty, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane 4000, QLD, Australia.
HardwareX. 2020 Oct 20;8:e00152. doi: 10.1016/j.ohx.2020.e00152. eCollection 2020 Oct.
Automation liberates scientific staff from repetitive tasks, decreases the probability of human error and consequently enhances the reproducibility of lab experiments. However, the use of laboratory automation in academic laboratories is limited due to high acquisition costs and the inability to customize off-the-shelf hardware. To address these challenges, we present an Open Source Hardware concept, referred to as OpenWorkstation, to build an assembly line-inspired platform consisting of ready-to-use and customizable modules. In contrast to current standalone solutions, the OpenWorkstation concept enables the combination of single hardware modules - each with a specific set of functionalities - to a modular workstation to provide a fully automated setup. The base setup consists of a pipetting and transport module and is designed to execute basic protocol steps for research applications, including pipetting operations for liquids and viscous substances and transportation of cell culture vessels between the modules. We demonstrate the successful application of this concept within a case study by the development of a storage module to facilitate high-throughput studies and a photo-crosslinker module to initiate photo-induced polymerization of hydrogel solutions. We present a Systems Engineering framework for customized module development, guidance for the design and assembly of the presented modules, and operational instructions on the usage of the workstation. By combining capabilities from various open source instrumentations into a modular technology platform, the OpenWorkstation concept will facilitate efficient and reliable experimentation for research. Ultimately, this concept will allow academic groups to improve replicability and reproducibility in cell culture process operations towards more economical and innovative research in the future.
自动化将科研人员从重复性任务中解放出来，降低了人为错误的概率，从而提高了实验室实验的可重复性。然而，由于购置成本高昂且无法定制现成硬件，学术实验室中实验室自动化的应用受到限制。为应对这些挑战，我们提出了一种开源硬件概念，称为开放式工作站，以构建一个受装配线启发的平台，该平台由即用型且可定制的模块组成。与当前的独立解决方案不同，开放式工作站概念能够将单个硬件模块（每个模块具有一组特定功能）组合成一个模块化工作站，以提供全自动设置。基本设置包括一个移液和运输模块，旨在执行研究应用的基本协议步骤，包括对液体和粘性物质的移液操作以及在各模块之间运输细胞培养容器。我们通过开发一个用于促进高通量研究的存储模块和一个用于引发水凝胶溶液光诱导聚合的光交联剂模块，在一个案例研究中展示了这一概念的成功应用。我们提出了一个用于定制模块开发的系统工程框架、所展示模块的设计和组装指南以及工作站使用的操作说明。通过将各种开源仪器的功能组合到一个模块化技术平台中，开放式工作站概念将促进研究中的高效且可靠的实验。最终，这一概念将使学术团队在细胞培养过程操作中提高可复制性和可重复性，以在未来实现更经济和创新的研究。
