Disclosed herein are systems, methods and devices for the continuous production and processing of compounds, including biopharmaceutical compounds. The system and devices are operated in an automated manner and capable of operation under Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP)-compliant conditions.

A radiosynthesis system is disclosed that leverages droplet microfluidic radiosynthesis and its inherent advantages including reduction of reagent consumption and the ability to achieve high molar activity even when using low starting radioactivity. The radiosynthesis system enables the parallel synthesis of radiolabeled compounds using droplet-sized reaction volumes. In some embodiments, a single heater is used to create multiple reaction or synthesis sites. In other embodiments, separate heaters are used to create independently-controlled heating conditions at the multiple reaction or synthesis sites. In one embodiment, a four-heater setup was developed that utilizes a multi-reaction microfluidic chip and was assessed for the suitability with high-throughput radiosynthesis optimization. Replicates of several radiochemical operations including the full synthesis of various PET tracers revealed the platform to have high repeatability (e.g., consistent fluorination efficiency). The system may also be used for synthesis optimization.

Acceleration and automation of immunohistochemical staining are achieved as follows: an automatic electric field immunohistochemical staining apparatus is configured to provided with a sample mounting unit, a solution supply unit, an electric field stifling unit, and a washing unit; the sample mounting unit on which a glass substrate with a tissue specimen fixed thereto is mounted and the electric field stirring unit that includes an upper electrode are operated in coordination to activate an antigen in the tissue specimen; the sample mounting unit and the solution supply unit containing various solutions are operated in coordination to supply a primary-antibody-containing solution to the tissue specimen; the sample mounting unit and the electric field stirring unit are operated in coordination to perform an antigen-antibody reaction of the antigen in the tissue specimen and a primary antibody; and the electric field stirring unit and the washing unit are operated in coordination.

The present invention is directed generally to devices and methods for manipulating laboratory pipettes in a programmable manner. The present invention is directed to an apparatus and methods for allowing a user to instruct the device to perform a specific process; identifying the type, location and identity of the consumables to be used; manipulating a plurality of pipettes for performing the liquid handling; monitoring the process during and after its execution; generating a detailed report for the plurality of actions. Other aspects of this invention include optimization of the liquid dispensing performances of a pipette; monitoring and controlling individual actions by means of vision; virtualization of the protocol definition by means of a reality augmented software interface; integration of the system in a conventional laboratory environment workflow.

A method and device to perform liquid handling by means of manipulation and transportation of consumables, instead of manipulation and transportation of a liquid handling head, among static or quasi-static liquid handling heads. A quasi-static liquid handling head (or pipette) that doesn't move between the aspiration and dispensing steps.

Various embodiments of the teachings relate to a system or method for sample preparation or analysis in biochemical or molecular biology procedures. The sample preparation can involve small volume processed in discrete portions or segments or slugs, herein referred to as discrete volumes. A molecular biology procedure can be nucleic acid analysis. Nucleic acid analysis can be an integrated DNA amplification/DNA sequencing procedure.

A system may include a first conduit configured to form a first batch of discrete volumes of aqueous fluid separated by spacing liquid disposed between consecutive volumes of aqueous fluid, the spacing liquid being immiscible with the aqueous fluid volumes; a second conduit, fluidically coupled to the first conduit, the second conduit configured to statically hold the first batch of discrete volumes of aqueous fluid; and a third conduit configured to receive the first batch of discrete volumes of aqueous fluid from the second conduit. The third conduit can be configured to transfer the discrete volumes of aqueous fluid of the first batch for downstream processing.

A method for performing flexible liquid handling processes among a plurality of consumables includes moving consumables by at least one arm having a magnetic interface device, connecting the at least one arm from the consumables, based on magnetic attraction utilizing said magnetic interface device, and aspirating and dispensing liquids on the consumables by at least one static or quasi-static pipette. The aspiration and dispensing actions are performed without displacement of the pipettes. The method further includes sensing, by the at least one arm, magnetic presence of a matching consumable connector or magnetic vector field modified by a presence of a matching consumable connector. The method includes disconnecting the at least one arm from the consumables based on a repulsive magnetic force.

Various embodiments of the teachings relate to a system or method for sample preparation or analysis in biochemical or molecular biology procedures. The sample preparation can involve small volume processed in discrete portions or segments or slugs, herein referred to as discrete volumes. A molecular biology procedure can be nucleic acid analysis. Nucleic acid analysis can be an integrated DNA amplification/DNA sequencing procedure.

A method for forming discrete volumes of aqueous fluid may comprise flowing aqueous fluid into a first conduit from a supply of aqueous fluid and flowing into the first conduit a spacing liquid supplied from a second conduit, the spacing liquid being immiscible with the aqueous fluid. The flowing of the aqueous fluid and the spacing liquid into the first conduit forms discrete volumes of the aqueous fluid, with consecutive discrete volumes of the aqueous fluid separated by the spacing liquid. The method may further comprise transferring the discrete volumes of the aqueous fluid and spacing liquid from the first conduit to a third conduit for processing.