title: Application of a Dual-Arm Robot in Complex Sample Preparation and Measurement Processes.
abstract: Automation systems with applied robotics have already been established in industrial applications for many years. In the field of life sciences, a comparable high level of automation can be found in the areas of bioscreening and high-throughput screening. Strong deficits still exist in the development of flexible and universal fully automated systems in the field of analytical measurement. Reasons are the heterogeneous processes with complex structures, which include sample preparation and transport, analytical measurements using complex sensor systems, and suitable data analysis and evaluation. Furthermore, the use of nonstandard sample vessels with various shapes and volumes results in an increased complexity. The direct use of existing automation solutions from bioscreening applications is not possible. A flexible automation system for sample preparation, analysis, and data evaluation is presented in this article. It is applied for the determination of cholesterol in biliary endoprosthesis using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). A dual-arm robot performs both transport and active manipulation tasks to ensure human-like operation. This general robotic concept also enables the use of manual laboratory devices and equipment and is thus suitable in areas with a high standardization grade.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Automation, University of Rostock, Germany heidi.fleischer@uni-rostock.de.
authors.forename: Heidi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Fleischer
authors.affiliation: Institute of Automation, University of Rostock, Germany.
authors.forename: Robert Ralf
authors.initials: RR
authors.lastname: Drews
authors.affiliation: Institute of Automation, University of Rostock, Germany.
authors.forename: Jessica
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Janson
authors.affiliation: Institute of Automation, University of Rostock, Germany.
authors.forename: Bharath Reddy
authors.initials: BR
authors.lastname: Chinna Patlolla
authors.affiliation: celisca-Center for Life Science Automation, Rostock, Germany.
authors.forename: Xianghua
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Chu
authors.affiliation: Yaskawa Europe GmbH, Allershausen, Germany.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Klos
authors.affiliation: celisca-Center for Life Science Automation, Rostock, Germany.
authors.forename: Kerstin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Thurow
mesh_terms: D057205:Automation, Laboratory / Q000295:instrumentation*; D001659:Biliary Tract; D002784:Cholesterol / Q000032:analysis; D019411:Clinical Laboratory Techniques / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods*; D008401:Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry; D006801:Humans; D019736:Prostheses and Implants; D013048:Specimen Handling / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D002784:Cholesterol
keywords: automated sample preparation; biliary endoprosthesis; cholesterol determination using GC-MS; dual-arm robot; laboratory automation