Automation
Complete control, even in motion.
At Okolab, we understand the important role that live-cell, high-content screening (HCS) and high-throughput screening (HTS) play in areas of research such as drug discovery. At times, a dedicated all-in-one screening solution cannot offer the imaging specifications or modality required to collect the data needed for a screen. Or perhaps you’re searching for a simpler way to add small-scale automated plate loading to your existing imaging system.
Imagine taking the microscope modality of your choice and adding automation plus full environmental control. Now you can, with the help of Bold Line 3 Automation Solutions. Over the past several years, we’ve adapted our established incubation technology to the operation requirements of robotic handling systems, for custom screening applications that go beyond the norm.
Take all of the ground-breaking technology of our BL3 incubators and apply it to your unique, automated plate imaging system.
Synchronized Motorization
The incubation chamber on the stage is equipped with a motorized lid. If you prefer a heated microscope enclosure, it can be equipped with a motorized cage door, plus a motorized micro-environment chamber. These allow access of a robotic plate loader to the stage area of a traditional microscope system.
The operation of these mechanisms is designed to integrate with your robotics control software, allowing seamless synchronization of movement between the robotic loader and the incubator.
Automated incubation is available for both cage and stagetop configurations.
Precision repositioning
To ensure maximum spatial/XY reproducibility between time points, automated stagetop incubators and micro-environment chambers include a motorized plunger mechanism to set each plate in the same ‘home position’ at each and every time point.
Further, an integrated plate sensor detects the presence or absence of a plate and relays it to your robotic equipment, ensuring seamless operation and providing a ‘checkpoint’ for the automation process.
Auto-Refill Humidity Module
Certain screening applications can take days or even weeks to complete. Traditional incubation systems across the board use humidity control modules that require a water reservoir to be refilled frequently (as often as 1-3 days). This can be problematic if the water runs out at an inopportune time.
We’ve added automatic water refilling capability to our renowned Active Humidity System, which digitally maintains a user-adjustable relative humidity between 50-95%, and stores the water safely away from the microscope. Thanks to automatic refilling, this can run for weeks at a time without user intervention.
Never worry about running out of water again.
Fully Incubated Plate Hotel
Designed to be compatible with your robotic loader, our hotel uses a smart and simple design to keep your plates fully incubated in between imaging points. It accommodates eight multiwell plates and provides high-accuracy gas, humidity, and temperature control, ensuring stable incubation throughout the screening process. PLATE-HOTEL-8 does not require integration into robotic software, thanks to its fully mechanical door system. Perfectly scaled for smaller applications, it’s a unique and economical solution that can be paired with Okolab’s incubation suite, or added to any automated workcell that requires environmentally-controlled storage.
Example Applications
- Confocal microscopy
- Brightfield-based image screening
- Cellular biology
- Drug discovery/pharmaceuticals
- Therapeutics
- Biotechnology
- Cloud Labs
- Protein crystallization