TekCel and Dynex Technologies Feature Walk-away Automation at LabAutomation2006

Magellan Biosciences, a leading provider of point-of-care products, automated laboratory systems, and consumables for clinical diagnostics and biomedical research, announced that its subsidiaries, TekCel and Dynex Technologies, will feature a selection of their automated laboratory systems in booth #175 at LabAutomation2006 from January 22-24 at the Palm Springs Convention Center in California.

TekCel will demonstrate its innovative TubeServer™ module, the “brains” of its TubeStore™ /Server localized-storage system for secure compound management, which features integrated active thaw, application-program interface, handoff to third-party device, and integrated 1D and 2D barcode reading. The system delivers huge advantages in flexibility, speed, throughput, ease of use, and security of samples for drug discovery and other critical biomedical-research applications. Multiple users can simultaneously cherry pick, process, and store jobs for execution immediately or in the future, while the integrated input/output device enables users to deliver multiple racks in and out of storage at the same time. In addition, the system tracks every 2D-barcoded tube on entry to and exit from the system and samples remain in a temperature-controlled, inert environment – right up to the moment they are delivered – to ensure sample security and extended sample lifetimes.

Dynex will preview its new DS2™ system, a fully automated laboratory workstation designed for the needs of demanding lower-throughput clinical labs – from immunology to infectious disease, food, and drugs-of-abuse testing. Based on the company’s higher-throughput DSX™, the DS2 features advanced automation and precise liquid-handling capabilities. Reliable, cost-effective, and easy to use and maintain, the DS2 automated workstation can process two 96-well microplates and up to 12 different assays simultaneously, while the DSX can process up to 48 different assays on as many as four plates. The DS2 and DSX are each open systems that perform the entire complement of analytical steps required for virtually any ELISA immunoassay: adding samples and reagents, washing, incubating, and absorbance detecting. In addition, they feature the most advanced and user-friendly controls available, and operate as full walk-away systems with sample ID-bar-code reading, chain-of-custody, and instrument-diagnostic capabilities.

According to Magellan’s President and CEO, Robert J. Rosenthal, both TekCel and Dynex take a platform-development approach to product design to share advances across product lines. “We start by listening very closely to customer demands. They know what will enable them to do their jobs easier and more effectively. In today’s busy labs, people are concerned about sample integrity, security, and assay accuracy. They’re looking for smart, walk-away systems that allow them to focus solely on the job at hand. And they don’t want to have to design their processes around the limitations of their laboratory equipment. All of our systems offer the utmost flexibility, ease of use, and security – allowing customers to worry about what’s most important to them: their critical research, or making rapid and accurate diagnoses to improve health outcomes.”