[MEDICA] At the forefront of innovation in laboratory medicine – MedicalExpo e-Magazine

Robots, artificial intelligence and advanced analytical methods provide daily support in laboratories while enabling scientists to gain new insights into biomarkers and pathogens crucial in the diagnosis and treatment of disease. Here are five of the companies at the forefront of laboratory medicine innovation showcasing their products at MEDICA 2022 in Dusseldorf, Germany, November 14-17.

Flow robotics

The Danish company Flow robotics specializes in liquid handling automation robots. Their newest and most innovative product, Flowbot® ONE, is a high precision plug-and-play solution and is developed for immediate tuning. The award-winning device is designed with the aim of making pipetting easy, without the need for complicated programming.

The technology has enabled scientists at Unilabs in Copenhagen to make significant advances in multiple sclerosis screening and laboratory productivity has increased by 30%. Blood samples from multiple sclerosis patients around the world are tested for antibodies against a virus, and the results are used for diagnostic analysis.

Dana Svraka, Medical Laboratory Technologist at Unilabs, Copenhagen, said:

“Every day we examine at least 470 patient samples. For this we use the Flowbot® ONE pipetting robot of which we have five in our laboratory. According to a specific scheme, the robots dilute the samples and distribute them on microplates.

The process of an assessment takes just under 30 minutes and we do 10-12 assessments each day. That’s a 40% improvement from more samples analyzed.3

Flowbot® ONE has also become an essential tool in the Danish fight against Covid-19. The pandemic has resulted in a massive demand for virus sample collection and preparation, and laboratory bioanalysts have been under intense pressure to perform manual pipetting tasks. Flowbot® ONE has helped ease the load on hospital labs.

At Hvidovre Hospital, two of the machines prepare 400 COVID-19 samples per day. Gorm Lisby, section chief at the hospital, said:

“Robots help us in a situation where we need more bioanalysts, and they help us take care of our employees, so that they are not overloaded and do not suffer microtraumas.”

cell path

Based in Wales, CellPath is an independent company specializing in the manufacture and worldwide supply of products, consumables and services to the Cellular Pathology sector.

Manufactured in the UK, CellPath’s innovative range of laboratory equipment focus on minimum space requirements and offer maximum user-friendliness with products that are suitable for all types of histology and cytology laboratories.

Cellpath has a range of tissue embedding centers that support the technique of placing cells or tissue in a support medium so that thin sections can be cut using a microtome. The EC 350 Modular Tissue Embedding Machine is innovatively designed and easy to operate.

It features two large, independently heated trays on either side of the wax dispenser for storing cassettes and molds, a control panel that allows easy programming of working times and temperatures, and a spacious heated work area with LED lighting. anti-glare white and adjustable magnification. glass.

Cellpath recently won the Powys Business Awards Technology and Innovation Award for his use of machine learning and automation to drive business forward.

Cooperative robots are now integrated into the production process, along with image recognition systems for packaging and quality control, to increase productivity by up to 165% and reduce waste by up to 95% for several key products. The company also uses a unique in-house injection molding technique to manufacture plastic products used in many modern laboratories.

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Monocent inc.

The US-based developer, manufacturer and distributor of innovative in vitro diagnostic (ivd) technology Monocent produces laboratory rapid test equipment. The MONOLYZE laboratory instrument is designed and validated to automate IVD tests. It features a fully automated random access analyzer and continuous loading using three microplates.

The analyzer uses ELISA (enzyme immunoassay), which is a plate-based assay technique designed to detect and quantify soluble substances such as peptides, proteins, antibodies and hormones. It is used in laboratory medicine to analyze a range of conditions, from allergies to fertility.

As a company, Monocent is a strong advocate of industry collaboration and works with a network of manufacturers, scientists, partners and customers to exchange valuable information on the need to improve or develop new products and solutions. . A Monocent spokesperson said:

“We have the ability to continuously excel in breakthrough development in the field of IVD. All of our products exceed our customers’ needs, which can be delivered in a scalable manner.”

Alliance Bio Expertise SAS

What makes the French automated laboratory equipment company Alliance Bio Expertise SAS standing out in the industry is the fact that it belongs to the employees. A spokesperson said:

“Everyone is personally committed to the success of the company. Each personal success becomes a collective success.

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Among ABE’s catalog of innovative products is an automatic Petri dish filling and stacking machine that allows scientists to prepare up to 440 plates (15 ml) in 30 minutes. With the Masterflex™ peristaltic pump, the liquid is precisely and evenly poured onto the plates and the built-in Peltier cooler prevents condensation and speeds solidification time, ensuring a consistently high quality of the substance. The peristaltic pump and loading system are located at the front of the device for easy and ergonomic access.

The DISTRIWEL 440 machine has a Plexiglas protective cover and an integrated UV lamp to help prevent contamination during the casting process. The compact base, the removable carousel and the removable transfer plate make handling and cleaning the device extremely easy. For better traceability, the machine can be connected to an inkjet printer, which prints two lines of text directly on the side of a Petri dish.

Bee Robotics Ltd.

British society Bee Robotics has a worldwide reputation as a leader in the design and manufacture of advanced robotic liquid handling solutions for laboratory automation.

The company designs and manufactures custom robotic instruments to analyze and process biological samples in the areas of allergies, HIV, HPV and lime.

Bee Robotics was founded by Steve Jones and Alwyn Morus in 1999, who combine 50 years of robotics and electronics experience in the biotech industry. Together they have innovative laboratory products such as the RoboScreen™, a fully automated allergy analysis machine that can process up to 36 samples at once.

The instrument has an integrated barcode reader for sample identification and can add samples to allergic membranes using disposable robotic tips. The process is fully automated, adding reagents for incubation and drying the membranes at the end of the test before the onboard scanner processes the developed membranes for image analysis.