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As the trend towards assay miniaturization continues with increasing demands to make nanoliter transfers, here is a simple way to convert either a 96 or a 384 Well Pipetting System or plate handler into a pin tool work station that will deliver from 2 nl to 5 ul using 96, 384 or 1,536 pin tools. We have developed 2 basic floating pin tool styles (E-clip and Tube type) and now can mount them to a variety of robot pipetting systems and microplate handling systems. Our standard mounting plates allow all our pin tools to be easily attached to 36 other Robot pipetting systems or to microplate handling systems. We have also made many custom mounting plates. For example Harvard Medical School uses our Pin Tools on a Seiko robot. |
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If you don't have a robot you can purchase the new V&P Pin Tool Robot and attach any of our pin tools to it. This gives you the advantages of robotic reproducibility at a fraction of the cost of large robotic system. Our mounting plates for the MWG, Beckman FX Gripper and the Tecan Roma Arm robot plate handlers may be compatible with many other robot plate handlers. Depending upon how your plate handler picks up the plate it may be able to interface with one of these 3 plate handler mounting systems. If that is the case you can convert your plate handler into a pin tool robot. Just have your plate handler pick up the pin tool from a VP 550A Docking Station and program it to perform the simple pin tool assay protocols. Whether you use the dispense head or the plate handler, to order a pin tool just specify your robot system, application, the number of pins (96, 384, 1536 or other) required, the volume you wish to transfer, the length of the pin, magnetic characteristics, fixed or floating and whether you need a hydrophobic/lipophobic coating on the pin. We will take that information and give you a quote on an appropriate pin tool that will be compatible with your application and robot system. |
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If you have an obsolete 96 or 384 pipeting system or one with damaged pistons you can bring it back on line as a 96, 384 or 1536 pin tool work station. Not only will you save a ton of money by rehabilitating an obsolete or broken work station, you will also pay for the pin tool in your first screening operation by eliminating the cost of disposable pipet tips. At $.12/tip, 200 cases of 384 tips are ~$9,000.00. Our robot mounted pin tools start at only $1,190.00. |
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The VP 384FP1CB Pin tool on the right was mounted onto the Beckman FX standard pin tool feature. If you already have an Beckman FX pin tool this is a very easy modification for us to make. We can even use the Beckman FX to reseat the pins in the rare event that they get stuck in the up position. If you don't already have an FX with their pin tool accessory, we can also provide another solution. To use our pin tools on the Beckman FX dispense head you will also need to purchase from Beckman their Tool Body Kit p/n719894 which contains a CD with an HDR patch that will convert FX software from v2.1 to v2.2 so the FX can be programmed to accept the different V&P pin lengths. The Gripper Tool still functions with the V&P Pin Tool attached allowing "on the fly" work surface changes. |
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The VP 384FP1CB Pin tool on the right was mounted onto the Beckman/Sagian hook style plate which can be attached to a MultiMek or Multipette pipeting system. If you have an obsolete 96 MultiMek or Multipette, you can bring it back on line as a 384 or 1536 nano liter dispensing tool. The Carl Creative Systems hook mount allows for easy attachment of the pin tool to the robot head. It attaches just like the tip loading feature. The hook mount tip loading feature was made by Carl Creative Systems and sold on an OEM basis to several robotics companies. The hook mount is also used on the Molecular Devices FLIPR, PerkinElmer (CCS Packard) PlateTraks, MiniTraks and EP3. If you have this feature on your robot, chances are you can use our Hook Mount to mount a Pin tool on your Robot. For very precise rotational positioning needed with 1536 applications we suggest you use our hook mount with a rotational adjustment feature. |
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The mounting plate on the right was built by Hamiliton for attaching one of our pin tools to the 96 pipetting head of a MicroLab Star Workstation. The advantage of this system is that the pin tool can be picked up "on the fly" from a docking station, used in a pin tool transfer and then returned to the docking station robotically with out human intervention. Contact Hamilton about the purchase of the Star Mounting plate. |
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The image to the right illustrates the notch in the top mounting plate that allows the robot plate handler to securely pick up the pin tool by accommodating the handler gripper to slide under the mounting plate. This simple design can also be used by other plate handling robot systems.
Download video of MWG Mount in action
Press the play button to view the video in a flash format, flash must be installed, or click the download link to download a mpeg version. |
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A new addition to The Automation Partnership pin tools is the incorporation of a docking feature on the bottom float plate. This docking feature mates to a standard docking tool on the robot platform and allows the pin tool to be picked up "on the fly". The AFIX384FP1TAP has a larger foot print and a thicker bottom float plate than our standard bottom float plates. |
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Capiler (Zymark) Sciclone "Hot Swapable" Pin Tools |
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In addition to these 34 Robotic Systems we have also mounted our pin tools to many custom robotic platforms. |
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The photo and movie are courtesy of John Herich, Maxim Pharmaceuticals.
Download Video
of 384 Pin Tool on a Maxim Robot
Press the play button to view the video in a flash format, flash must be installed, or click the download link to download a mpeg version. |
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Storage Stations for Pin Tools offer a safe place to store pin tools and keep them clean. |
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V&P pins transfer liquid by carrying the liquid on the sides, tip and in slots we cut into the tip. The amount delivered is determined by the diameter and surface tension of the pin, the surface tension of the liquid, how far the pin is submerged into the liquid and the speed with which the pin is removed from the liquid. When all of these variables are fixed, the accuracy of the liquid transfer is very consistent, with CV's averages better than 5%. Increasing the speed of withdrawal from the source plate by 7- fold will increase the volume delivered by as much as 3 fold in a linear relationship. This phenomenon can be exploited to expand the range of delivery volume for a single pin. The table and the chart below illustrates the effects of increasing the speed 7- fold. The speed range is from 0.78 cm/sec to 5.7 cm/sec. Use this chart to select the pin that will deliver in your desired range. The Standard Tube style pin tools are easily adapted to be mounted on many robot work stations. We have made custom mounts for custom robots and our customers have mounted our pin tools on the Beckman FX and the TekCel work stations. We now have our own mounting system for the FX. If you want to use it with a robotic work station just fax us a drawing of the mating feature on your robot and we will incorporate that design into the mating plate. All of our Standard Tube style pin tools have the mounting features for the Beckman BioMek 2000 already built in. If you want to use it by hand, please add the BGP to your order. |
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Docking Stations for Pin Tools provide a safe facility for tool changing robots to park and pick up pin tools. |
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V&P pins transfer liquid by carrying the liquid on the sides, tips and in slots we cut into the tips. The amount delivered is determined by the diameter and surface tension of the pin, the surface tension of the liquid, how far the pin is submerged into the liquid and the speed with which the pin is removed from the liquid. When all of these variables are fixed, the accuracy of the liquid transfer is very consistent, with CV averages better than 5%. Increasing the speed of withdrawal from the source plate by 7- fold will increase the volume delivered by as much as 3 fold in a linear relationship. This phenomenon can be exploited to expand the range of delivery volume for a single pin. The table and the chart below illustrates the effects of increasing the speed 7- fold. The speed range is from 0.78 cm/sec to 5.7 cm/sec. Use this chart to select the pin that will deliver in your desired range. |
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DMSO Liquid To Liquid Transfers With Uncoated Pins |
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The links below are to delivery volume range tables for uncoated and hydrophobic coated delivering either DMSO or Aqueous solutions in liquid to liquid transfers. DMSO TRANSFERS WITH HYDROPHOBIC COATED PINS DMSO TRANSFERS WITH UNCOATED (STAINLESS STEEL) PINS AQUEOUS TRANSFERS WITH HYDROPHOBIC COATED PINS AQUEOUS TRANSFERS WITH UNCOATED (STAINLESS STEEL) PINS
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3. Will the source plate have wells with significantly different levels of liquid? (Cherry picked source plate or edge drying effect?). If yes and if the absolute volume transferred is critical, then select the largest slot pin that is in your transfer range. This will minimize the effect of liquid height on the volume of liquid carried on the sides of the pin. Also consider custom slot pins. 4. Does the material transferred bind non-specifically to stainless steel? If yes then select the Hydrophobic/lipophobic coated pins. If no, select the uncoated pins. 5. What is the Z clearance on the robot deck from the highest impediment (top of the source plate/recipient plate/wash reservoirs, etc.) to the top of the robot mounting plate? If it is greater than 77 mm you can use any of pins. If it is less than 77 mm, you can only use the shorter FP(#)C series pins (12 mm exposed pin length), the FP(#N) series pins (17 mm exposed pin length) and the E-clip series pins (23 mm exposed pin length pins. If the Z clearance is less than 60 mm, we recommend you contact us. There are a few tricks we can do to shave off 5 to 10 mm in height. Links to the specifications of all the robot mounting plates/pin tool/pin combinations can be found on the height ("Z") restriction page. 6. Is the source plate a deep well plate? If so you may need to use a 30 mm long exposed length pin ("T" pin) to reach down to the lower levels of the well. 7. Should you choose the solid pin versus the slot pin? Although there appears to be a slight advantage for slot pin, CV's between the two pins are very good. Both are easy to clean between specimens. Biggest factor is cost. If you don't need to deal with varying liquid heights and you can obtain the volume necessary with a solid pin, choose the economical solid pin. 8. If you are still uncertain about which pin to select for your application, you can perform a simple "Proof of Principle" test with several different pins using our inexpensive VP 450FP3 Replicator Strip coupled via a VP 452MP to one of our robot mounting plates. An even simpler solution is to use a work station with a 1, 4 or 8 probe dispense head with the new V&P Mono Pin Tool to test the various pins. |
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The plate to the right was spotted using a 50 nl slot pin (FP1CS50) transferring oligo DNA in an aqueous spotting buffer to a specially treated polypropylene plate. Our customer in this case wanted to place 42 individual spots in the bottom of each well of a 96 well microplate. Spot diameter = 0.55 mm. Volume transferred to the spot = 5.85 nl The photo on the right is the result of a four fold serial dilution hybridization assay of the Oligo spots with a labeled DNA that can be detected optically and quantitated. Follow this link for more information on liquid to dry transfers and Multiplexing.
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2. Select the Floating Fixture with the appropriate pattern (96, 384 or 1,536) and diameter of holes. 3. Select the robot system you wish to use the Pin Tool with. We have made Mounting Plates to over 34 Robot Workstations. The BMP Mounting Plate on this page accommodate the manual pin tool and the Beckman BioMek 2000 robot. Determine the weight of a Robot pin tool at this link
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Our Robotic floating Pin Tools can easily be converted to a manual pin tool with this simple BGPK kit which contains a Guide Pin Frame and handle and sturdy mounting plate (BMPM) The guide pins are used with our manual microplate (VP 381N) and membrane registration accessories (VP 382 and VP 382B) to keep the pins in the center of the wells and to make high density arrays on membranes or agar surfaces Conversion of robot pin tools to manual Multi-Blot Replicators is very easy using our BGPK for Standard length pins and the BGPKL for longer pins. Simply remove the robot mounting feature from the float plates disassemble the pin tool and reassemble it with the Guide Pin Frame as part of the tool. Attach the Manual Mounting Plate and handle and you are ready to go. If this sounds too daunting for you - send it back to us and we will do it for you for a nominal fee. The main reason for this conversion is to attach guide pins to the replicator so it can be aligned to Microplate registration accessories such as the VP 381 series Library copiers for replicating and reformatting genomic libraries, VP 380 series colony copiers to make high density arrays on agar surfaces or VP 382 membrane printers to make high density arrays on nylon or other membranes. The BGPKL kit is used when longer replicator pins are used like the FPAM pins which are 63 mm long. A pin tool with FPAM pins is illustrated in the photo to the right. In order to accommodate these longer pins we need to use a longer and more sturdy guide pin found on the BGPL frame. These larger guide pins are 3.17 mm in diameter. Each of the kits on the right (BGPKL and BGPK) is made up of a handle, a manual mounting plate and a guide pin frame. The guide pin frame is the only difference between the two kits |
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Copyright © 2007, V&P Scientific, Inc. All rights reserved.