Faculty for Life Sciences, Professorship for Bioanalytics and Laboratory Automation, Albstadt-Sigmaringen University, Anton-Günther-Str. 51, 72488, Sigmaringen, Germany.
, 8-B-O-T, Schiff-Str. 46, 78464, Constance, Germany.
Anal Bioanal Chem. 2024 Nov;416(26):5827-5839. doi: 10.1007/s00216-024-05510-7. Epub 2024 Aug 29.
Commercial automation systems for small- and medium-sized laboratories, including research environments, are often complex to use. For liquid handling systems (LHS), development is required not only for the robot's movements but also for adapting the bioanalytical method to the automated system. This study investigates whether a more human-like automation strategy-using a robotic system (RS)-is more suitable for research laboratories than a professional automation approach utilizing a commercial automated LHS. We conducted a series of measurements for protein determination using a Bradford assay manually, with a fully automated LHS, and with our human-like RS. Although the hand-like RS approach requires more than twice the time of the LHS, it achieved the best standard deviation in this setup (RS = 0.5, manual = 0.71, LHS = 0.86). Due to the low limit of detection (LOD) and limit of quantification (LOQ), most protein samples could be quantified with the RS (samples below LOQ = 9.7%, LOD = 0.23; LOQ = 0.25) compared to manual (samples below LOQ = 28.8%, LOD = 0.24; LOQ = 0.26) and the LHS (samples below LOQ = 36.1%, LOD = 0.27; LOQ = 0.31). In another time-dependent enzymatic assay test, the RS achieved results comparable to the manual method and the LHS, although the required time could be a constraint for short incubation times. Our results demonstrate that a more hand-like automation system closely models the manual process, leading easier to accurate bioanalytical results. We conclude that such a system could be more suitable for typical research environments than a complex LHS.
商业自动化系统用于中小规模实验室，包括研究环境，通常使用起来比较复杂。对于液体处理系统（LHS），不仅需要开发机器人的运动，还需要将生物分析方法适应自动化系统。本研究探讨了一种更类似人类的自动化策略——使用机器人系统（RS）——是否比利用商业自动化 LHS 的专业自动化方法更适合研究实验室。我们手动、使用全自动 LHS 和类似人类的 RS 进行了一系列蛋白质测定 Bradford 测定。虽然手控 RS 方法所需的时间是 LHS 的两倍多，但在这种设置中它达到了最佳的标准偏差（RS=0.5，手动=0.71，LHS=0.86）。由于低检测限（LOD）和定量限（LOQ），与手动（低于 LOQ 的样品=9.7%，LOD=0.24；LOQ=0.26）和 LHS（低于 LOQ 的样品=28.8%，LOD=0.24；LOQ=0.26）相比，大多数蛋白质样品可以用 RS 定量（低于 LOQ 的样品=0.25）。在另一个时间依赖性酶测定试验中，RS 达到了与手动方法和 LHS 相当的结果，尽管所需的时间可能是短孵育时间的限制。我们的结果表明，更类似人类的自动化系统更紧密地模拟手动过程，从而更容易获得准确的生物分析结果。我们得出结论，与复杂的 LHS 相比，这种系统更适合典型的研究环境。
