Performance Assessment of a Liquid Handling Robot

A standardized and reliable performance assessment protocol allows rapid determination of the volume verification methods. It should be easy to implement, and cost-effective with respect to required time and resources. The selection of the volume verification method should be dependent on the availability and the verification purpose. A standardized performance assessment protocol is proposed by the author as following:

 

The Gravimetric Method is best suited for the performance assessment for liquid volume larger than 10 μL. If the tolerance is not expected to be tight, the lower limit could be as low as 1 μL for effective use. Not only the accuracy and precision of each channel in Span-8 Pod can be assessed, but the overall performance of the Multichannel Pod can also be determined rapidly with this method. This approach is convenient for rapid daily check.

 

The Single-Dye Fluorescence-Based Method is well-suited for measuring the precision of each channel of multichannel automated liquid handling robots. Accuracy evaluation can be made provided that a standard curve has been generated properly. This approach is suitable for liquid volume larger than 50 μL for the monthly checks. If the tolerance is not expected to be tight, the lower limit could be as low as 1 μL for effective use with the assumption that dilution process is accurate.

 

The Dual-Dye Absorbance-Based Method covers target volume lower than 50 μL. Because of its good stability and robustness, a higher level of accuracy and precision of each channel of multichannel liquid handling robots can be determined rapidly. This approach is best applied for the monthly checks combined with the Single-Dye Fluorescence-Based Method or calibration for the robot.