MicroPlate Handling Instruments

Hudson’s Micro10x™ Reagent Dispenser provides a combination of fast filling speeds, high accuracy, and extreme flexibility ordinarily found only among large, expensive liquid handling robots. It has a very small footprint saving benchspace. The Micro10x accurately dispenses liquids in volumes down to low microliter range, and is the only small dispenser capable of tip-touchoff to ensure a clean dispense of high surface-tension fluids. Its positive-displacement pump head is adjustable in increments of 10nL, and never requires recalibration.  The leading competitor needs constant calibration and the purchase of replacement dispensing cassettes. The pump is available in two different sizes (0.25″ or 0.375″ barrel) to maximize accuracy at low and high volumes. The Micro10x microplate dispenser can be used as a stand alone laboratory instrument or integrated into laboratory workstation.

Laboratory Media Dispenser
Request a Quote

The Micro10x has optional valving to allow for up to 10 bottles of reagents, buffers, culture media or solvents. It has full robotic control of the filler head, and automatically adjusts to the height AND well-pattern of any SBS-standard microplate: from low-profile 1536-well plates to tall, 96-well deep-well plates. It is well-suited to use in ELISA applications as a dispenser of conjugate and stop solutions. The Micro10x can also be used for dispensing culture media into petri dishes, OmniTrays and other plates.

The Micro10x reagent dispenser can be loaded and operated manually, but is also fully-compatible with robotic arms (such as Hudson’s PlateCrane EX  microplate handler). And, because the filler head itself moves, not the plate, it can be used IN-LINE with Hudson’s LabLinx high-performance track based microplate handling system for unparalleled throughput and ease of setup. It also integrates with over 200 lab instruments made by other manufactures.

Microplate Stacker, Reagent Dispenser and Microplate washer

Production Microplate Coating system made of 2 StackLinx, a Micro10X Reagent Dispenser and a RapidWash Microplate Washer

The Micro10x offers:

  • Touch Screen programming on a new LCD Display which is small, easy to read, and very responsive to the finger.  The new pendant includes a positive mounting bracket on the base unit.
  • Graphical Image Row Selection to control the dispensing pattern
  • 96-, 384- and 1536-well filling
  • Microliter volumes dispensed 50% faster than its 8-tip counterparts
  • Tip Touch capability to touch-off droplets

Typical Dispense times for an entire plate:

  • 15 seconds – 96 well plate, 100uL per well
  • 24 seconds – 384 well plate, 25uL per well

Hudson’s Micro10x was designed to meet the needs of high throughput laboratory dispensing requiring economical, highly-accurate μL-level dispensing and is widely used for drug discovery or genomic and proteomic assays. Its positive-displacement pump head and tip-touchoff capability overcomes differences in fluid viscosity and surface tension so that results are consistent regardless of the fluid being dispensed.

Applications

The Micro10x is a small, dependable tool for quickly adding all types of liquids evenly across most standard microplates. When connected to the Hudson SOLO single channel pipettor, which can add different test compounds into each well, virtually any assay can be prepared.It is well-suited to use in ELISA applications as a dispenser of conjugate and stop solutions. Its high speed and robot compatability make it ideal for ELISAs that require consistent processing of many hundreds of plates. Its self-priming feature allows it to maintain consistently clear dispense nozzles even during long plate-incubation times.

The Micro10x is also ideal for rapidly dispensing fresh growth media into culture plates in cell-based assays and growth processes. Coupled with Hudson’s LabLinx track-based plate stackers, clean plates can be filled with media automatically inside ordinary laboratory hoods, to ensure high-speed, sterile filling of plates. Again, its self-priming feature ensures unclogged nozzles and continuously flush flow channels to minimize contamination.

The Micro10x has also found widespread use in dispensing live cells into culture plates. Its ceramic, positive-displacement pump head is gentle on cells, and its autoclavable liquid path allows for easy cleanup and decontamination between batches.

The Micro10x is well-suited to handle difficult-to-dispense substances, like silicon oil used to preserve PCR reaction mixes from evaporation. Its high speed and robot compatability make it ideal for dispensing PCR reaction mix components as well, processing plates rapidly and with great accuracy.

Features

Hudson’s Micro10x has the features users find convenient in small, benchtop instruments, plus some unique features not normally found in benchtop liquid dispensers:

  • AutoPriming to allow priming at programmed intervals
  • Self-draining prime trough allows repeated priming without undesirable overflows or manual emptying
  • Equipped with a small, highly responsive, touch screen pendant with an easy to read color display.  Comes with a positive mounting bracket on the base unit.
  • Up to 20 Dispense programs, and 10 Priming programs stored internally
  • Full RS-232 external control capability for easy integration into robot systems
  • In-Line operation with track systems, or stand-alone manual-loading
  • Reversible pump for emptying the fluid path
  • Pump available in two different sizes (0.25″ or 0.375″ barrel).
  • Small (10² x 15²) footprint to conserve valuable bench space
  • All electronics are well away from potential spill areas
  • Up to 10 individually-controlled fluid paths are available to dispense multiple reagents “on-the-fly”
  • Available in either landscape (12-nozzle dispensing) or portrait (8-nozzle dispensing).

All dispensing actions can be defined and run from Micro10x Landscape Mode from the touch-screen LCD panel attached to the system. Volume, speed, plate height and tip dispense depth can be programmed, as well as the plate well density and orientation. A tip-touch feature can be added to remove any remaining drops from the tip.

The fill pattern screen allows the user to specify exactly which rows will be filled. A similar interface within the SoftLinx software can be used to design serial dilutions and complex reagent addition schemes

Specifications

  • Dispense volumes: 5μL and up – below 3% CV; 3-5μL – below 5% CV
  • Electrical: 115 VAC, 0.5 Amps
  • Holds factory calibration for > 50 million cycles
  • A fully-autoclavable liquid path
  • Available in either landscape (12-nozzle dispensing) or portrait (8-nozzle dispensing) style.
  • Offers two different pump sizes (0.25″ or 0.375″ barrel)

Typical Dispense Times for an entire plate*:

  • 96 wells, 100uL per well, 13 seconds
  • 96 wells, 25uL per well, 9 seconds
  • 384 wells, 25uL per well, 22 seconds
  • 384 wells, 10uL per well, 18 seconds
  • 1536 wells, 5uL per well, 63 seconds

[*Using 12-nozzle manifold, 50% pump speed]