Kerstin Thurow, Center for Life Science Automation, Uni Rostock

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 bio screening as well as 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 as well as suitable data analysis and evaluation.

Furthermore, the use of non-standard sample vessels with various shapes and volumes results in an increased complexity. The state of the art only includes automated workstations, semi-automated systems or proprietary fully automated systems, which have been developed for specific applications. In general, a flexible use of automation systems for different applications is not possible. The presentation will discuss challenges and concepts for automating analytical processes including sample preparation.