Few people realize how much time is spent preparing solutions every week. It's a task that must be done, and much of the time someone seems to be preparing them. It's such basic chemistry that few people have taken a critical look at it, especially considering the impact that increasing automation in laboratories is having. LabMinds conducted a mid-sized poll in the UK and US life science spaces and both the median and average answers implied that people spent 2 hours every single week preparing solutions.
While 2h/week per researcher sounds relatively minor, the end result is an astounding amount of time waste:
- 2h spend per researcher per year = 48 x 2 = 96 hours per annum (2.5 weeks)
- Researcher cost per hour = £50 - £200 (including overheads; varies depending on the laboratory)
- Single researcher preparing solutiona = £9,600 per annum
- Small laboratory with 10 researchers = £96,000 per annum
- Laboratory technician cost per hour = £10 - £50 (excluding overheads, varies depending on laboratory)
- Laboratory technician do the 20 hours per week of solution preparation = £19,200 per annum
No matter how you spin it, the modern laboratory (or lean manufacturing facility) consumes enough solutions that EasySolution is practically a no-brainer. We highly recommend using the numbers relevant to your laboratory with our ROI calculator.
While everyone is used to stock solutions, it should never be forgotten that they are made not because they're a good idea, but because preparing solutions is a chore. While on the shelf all sorts of things can go wrong. Most typically the pH drifts due to oxidization or exposure to sunlight. In worst case scenarios things can even breed in there (as in the image).
It is quite painful to verify that stock solutions are in good shape, and in case pH adjustment is needed, much of the solution preparation process is still present even with the stock solution use.
Of course with EasySolution the ultimate goal would be to prepare buffer solutions when you need them. No more headaches of whether a stock is good or not. No more wasted shelf space. No more reagent waste when stock solutions inevitably go off without being fully used. Everything is stored in the much more convenient solid form, and every solution is perfectly fresh.
Everyone knows the argument for process automation: when it comes to repetitive tasks, computers typically outperform humans by a significant margin. Solution preparation is no different, as it follows a series of very easily formalized steps, all of which EasySolution provides considerable improvements to.
Dosing
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1. EasySolution uses a small scale with high accuracy doing numerous repeats. This is more accurate than a single measurement with a larger scale.
2. EasySolution has a level sensing solution that guarantees an accuracy that parallax error by itself would prevent people from achieving
3. Stock solutions are added using peristaltic pumps that can achieve accuracies that would be very painful for humans to reach |
Adjusting pH
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1. EasySolution calculates the rates of various solids to hit the pH directly without any need for adjustment (Henderson-Hasselbalch)
2. EasySolution's learning data center allows over time for the inclusion of more complex combinations for the calculations |
| Labeling |
1. An (optional) label printer prints a label with every detail about the solution, so that even without the software repeatability is guaranteed |
Completion
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1. Everything is stored automatically, allowing for a perfect repeat using a few mouse clicks
2. Considering the ability to design the mixing chamber to optimize cleaning, the odds are high that the mixing chamber is cleaner than a typical beaker |
All of this combines to guarantee accuracy and repeatability in a way that is incredibly inconvenient for people to match. While it is certainly doable, such diligence simply makes the time waste problem worse.
The typical point at which people are exposed to chemicals is during preparation. What's even more insidious is that people are constantly exposed to chemicals of moderate harmfulness. While everyone is cautious around the incredibly dangerous chemicals, the attitude that chemists often take with the non-lethal chemicals is cavalier at best. EasySolution will remove this headache completely by locking the chemicals completely inside the machine. Even during reloading the machine a very limited number of interactions will be needed, and for a few minutes at worst.
One should never underestimate how dangerous these chemicals can be:
- EU danger directive: R-Phrases (examples: R46 'May Cause heritable genetic damage' or R39 'Danger of very serious irreversible effects')
- EU treatment directive: S-Phrases (examples: S9 'Keep Contents in a well-ventilated place' or S29 'Do not empty in to drains')
- Dangerous Combinations (sample)
The odds of people remembering all of these are vanishing. A database is much better at knowing that this particular seldom used chemical should not be kept in a badly ventilated location. While LabMinds can not guarantee a knowledge in every dangerous combination, it will have massive amounts of data that will help keep the employees and nature safe.
Good Laboratory Practice is a set of standards for (non-clinical) laboratory practices initially formulated by OECD. There are other standards with similar content (for example NLLAP and potentially CLIA). The GLP SOP regulates a number of things, but a few examples would be:
- Everything about what goes in to a solution has to be logged and the solution given a serial number
- Information about the calibration (most typically of the pH sensor(s)) must be logged
- All instruments used in the preparation must be identified by an ID number, and there must be a log of their calibration
- Expiration date must be attached to any solution prepared
- Storage conditions of all reagents must be logged
EasySolution can completely automate all of the above, assuming the reagents are stored in it. If the end use involves EasySolution as a lean manufacturing tool, the GMP is more appropriate, but in many ways it is quite similar in requirement - nothing that an actual researcher or laboratory technician would like to do.
Links:
It is important for Laboratories to know what has been done in relation to which project. While there are log books for laboratories, there is no doubt that computers are the best way to go about it. EasySolution files the following information:
- Which user account was ordered the solution, and when
- The individual ID of the solution
- When was the solution preparation started by the machine, and at what time was it complete
- How much of which materials were placed in the solution
- The target and ultimate pH value
- How long before the solution creation was the pH sensor calibrated
- The estimated lifespan of the solution
This information is then ready for statistics dissection. Why is the laboratory using so much Tris? Who creates the most solutions, and what for? It's also very easy to find out when a specific solution was done, and even the tiny details of the machine interaction can be extracted from the log files.
Workplace safety has some fairly heavy regulatory angles, especially when it comes to dealing with hazardous materials. The EU in particular has started a very heavy push for regulating various materials (a subset of REACH). How far this will extend is hard to tell, but the potential implications on workplace health regulations are considerable. Already for example the British COSHH WEL covers a large number of chemicals. That number is growing, but as the materials are locked insideEasySolution, adherence will not be an issue as the exposure for the researchers will be non-existent.
Example regulation:
While the trend is toward unified regulation, it is also toward more comprehensive regulation - in large part because computerized systems make comprehensive regulation easy. The fact that EasySolution dramatically reduces the time people interact with these substances (particularly in solid form when the risk of the compounds becoming airborne is greatest) dramatically is obviously a huge help. While such functionality does not exist currently, it would not be a major problem for EasySolution to keep track of the time and scope of activities with regulated substances.
Solution preparation is not a popular activity. Any laboratory that automates the process will immediately gain points in the eyes of anyone considering it for employment. This is particularly true with people who have grown up with automation and computers who have come to expect certain things. It will be even more pronounced once EasySolution starts gaining market share and people get used to it. At that point leaving a laboratory that has one for a laboratory that doesn't will have some serious switching costs.
Fundamentally there are two groups of people who will be easier to recruit due to EasySolution.
Principal Investigators:
- Time savings via solutions being automatically prepared
- No worrying about whether people are using fresh solutions
- Paperwork is automated
- No worrying about processes, traceability, workplace exposure etc
Researchers:
- Time savings via solutions being automatically prepared
EasySolution also saves money directly. Scales, pH sensors, heating stirrers etc are used almost exclusively in laboratories for preparing solutions, with most labs having a number of each of them. While a laboratory without them at all seems unlikely in the immediate future, with EasySolution it seems very hard to justify having a large number of any of them. Not having to replace 2 of each will result in considerable savings down the line.
As EasySolution has extremely high quality components, not having to buy their equivalents creates significant savings. Examples (all of these are first paeg hits using google.co.uk Shopping and the appropriate search words):
The savings from not needing multiples of such machines are not inconsiderable by themselves, even if they are vastly overshadowed by the time savings.
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