Do you Trust Your Laboratory's Liquid Handler?

Pipette calibration and verification of automated liquid handlers can be one of the most laborious and tedious jobs in the routine laboratory. Some labs still pipette water onto ancient scales as a way of checking their pipettes (trust me I was doing it myself only a few years ago).

Thankfully there are much more efficient, effective and labour saving methods out there of assuring the quality of your liquid handler. Artel introduced me to its MVS^® Multichannel Verification System at MEDICA in November 2011 and I was impressed. The newly updated system boasts a number of enhancements which have further strengthened accuracy and precision, and made the system more flexible and as a result, easier to use.

Using unique components and dual-dye proprietary ratiometric photometry, the MVS^® can automatically verify the volume transfer performance of automated liquid handlers, as well as multi-channel handheld pipettes. Within minutes, and without any special skill involved by the user, the MVS^® produces a detailed performance report of the dispenser being tested. The reports contain information about the accuracy and precision on a tip-by-tip and well-by-well basis. This allows laboratories to have complete confidence in their dispensers. The Artel PCS^® (Pipette Calibration System) is also available for single channel pipettes, providing a quick and easy method of verifying pipette accuracy and precision. The PCS^® also offers a complete pipette inventory management solution allowing you to keep track of pipettes’ performance.

Artel also offers a series of one and two day training workshops and webinars to educate users on correct pipetting methods, and on how to mitigate operator error and variability within labs. These workshops are for people who use pipettes on a daily basis and/or are responsible for understanding regulatory requirements and establishing internal quality assurance programs for pipettes. A certificate is issued on completion of the workshop course. You can then test your finely honed pipetting skills in the ARTEL Pipetting Olympics, a fun challenge for the whole laboratory! To see how you stack up against the rest of the industry’s best pipetters, phone +1-888-406-3463 or visit the company’s booth (#1133) at Pittcon, 11-15 March 2012, Orange County Convention Center, Orlando, FL, USA.

Of course the only way to know how good a product can be is by using it yourself, or failing that, hearing what your peers think of it. If you’ve used the MVS or any other calibration methods, let us know your thoughts by leaving a review today.