00:00:01 Laboratories today are faced with an ever-increasing workload and a constantly diminishing supply of skilled personnel.

00:00:11 Right now, there is a shortage of about 100,000 laboratory technologists, and our schools and colleges simply cannot turn them out fast enough.

00:00:20 The traditional scientific atmosphere of the laboratory has given way to signs of a race against time.

00:00:28 For the pace and backlog never let up.

00:00:32 Unfortunately, many tests simply cannot be speeded up.

00:00:36 Not only are they slow, they're repetitious, hardly the most efficient way to utilize skilled personnel.

00:00:44 One possible solution is automation.

00:00:46 Let a machine do the routine tests.

00:00:49 It does them faster and frees laboratory technologists to do more complex and sophisticated work.

00:00:56 Another factor is cost reduction.

00:00:59 Surveys show that the costs of certain tests can be cut almost in half with the help of electronic instrumentation.

00:01:08 In keeping with this new trend, the Warner-Chilcott Instruments Division presents the Robot Chemist,

00:01:16 the first system for fully automating liquid chemical handling and analysis with no change in basic procedures.

00:01:32 The Robot Chemist automatically samples, dilutes, adds reagents, mixes, incubates, reads, and prints out results,

00:01:41 all at the command of the operator.

00:01:44 It even readies itself for the next sample.

00:01:51 The electronic nerve center of the system is this compact controller module.

00:01:56 It initiates, in sequence, all the process steps of the determination the analyst has selected and programmed.

00:02:04 Its high degree of flexibility permits it to be adapted to the specific needs of most chemical procedures.

00:02:20 The temperature control module regulates the water bath to plus or minus one-tenth of a degree Celsius

00:02:27 over a range of ambient to 100 degrees Celsius.

00:02:35 Below the controller, the rack handler accepts up to ten racks of ten tubes each, a total of 100 samples.

00:02:43 Each is automatically positioned for pickup by the transfer probe.

00:02:52 The transfer mechanism moves the pipetter probe through five discrete steps in any given cycle.

00:03:00 As shown here, using a die for visualization, the steps are one, reagent pickup,

00:03:11 two, probe wash,

00:03:14 three, sample pickup,

00:03:18 four, process turntable delivery,

00:03:22 five, probe wash and drain.

00:03:26 The pipetter mechanism contains three positive displacement pumps of the adjustable micrometer type.

00:03:33 Depending upon the chemistry being run, the operator quickly sets the volumes desired on the sample pickup,

00:03:40 the reagent pickup, and the delivery pumps.

00:03:51 The pumps in the reagent dispenser can be programmed to deliver precise quantities of reagent to the process turntable during the incubation period.

00:04:02 The process module contains an indexing turntable with 100 reaction tubes.

00:04:09 Into these, the transfer mechanism delivers measured volumes of sample, reagent, and diluent.

00:04:19 At predetermined times in the incubation period, additional reagents are added by the dispenser,

00:04:25 and the reaction mixture automatically disturbed.

00:04:29 Each sample is treated discreetly in its own reaction chamber, minimizing the possibility of cross-contamination.

00:04:37 After incubation, for a preselected time and temperature, the reaction mixture is pumped into the cuvette of the spectrophotometer for analysis.

00:04:48 The emptied reaction tube is washed thoroughly with distilled or deionized water, dried with superheated air, and is ready for the next sample.

00:05:05 The dual-beam grating-type spectrophotometer can be set for any light frequency ranging from 340 to 1,000 nanometers.

00:05:19 The spectrophotometer measures the absorbance of the reaction mixture by comparing its optical density to that of a reference blank, as shown in this diagram.

00:05:30 The white light from the light source strikes the monochromator, which then reflects that portion of the spectrum selected by the dial setting.

00:05:39 This reflected beam passes through the reference and the sample cuvettes.

00:05:44 The difference in the amount of light absorbed in the two cuvettes is measured by the photo tubes,

00:05:49 and is also transmitted as electrical impulses to the data converter.

00:05:54 Here it is displayed in digital form on the readout screen.

00:06:01 It is also fed electrically into the data printer, which provides a permanent record of both delta optical density and sample identification number.

00:06:19 Programming the robot chemist for any determination is both quick and simple.

00:06:24 First, up to 100 samples are placed on the rack handler.

00:06:36 Then the proper incubation temperature is set.

00:06:48 The reagent bottles on the pipetter are filled with appropriate solutions, and the volume set on the sample, reagent, and delivery pumps.

00:07:16 The number of reagent dispenser pumps to be employed is determined by the particular analysis.

00:07:28 Probes and stirrers are positioned.

00:07:34 The spectrophotometer is adjusted for proper wavelength and zero.

00:07:40 The sample identification tabulator on the data converter is also set to zero.

00:07:48 Programming the robot chemist is both quick and simple.

00:07:57 The cycle time is set.

00:07:59 The proper buttons are pushed on the controller, and it initiates in sequence all the process steps of the determination the analyst has selected and programmed.

00:08:10 In this typical analysis, individual blanks are run with each sample.

00:08:16 Here, for ease of demonstration, dye mixtures are used.

00:08:20 The rack handler is programmed to allow the transfer mechanism to pick up two aliquots from the same sample tube.

00:08:27 First, substrate and sample, then buffer and sample are delivered to adjacent tubes on the process turntable.

00:08:39 Other reagents are dispensed by the reagent pumps, and the reaction mixture stirred.

00:08:48 When incubation is complete, the spectrophotometer probes withdraw the sample and its blank simultaneously.

00:08:58 The difference in optical density between the two solutions is determined and displayed on the readout screen.

00:09:05 The same information is recorded by the data printer, completing a typical chemical analysis by the robot chemist.

00:09:20 A typical changeover from one chemistry to another takes but minutes and can be set while the robot is completing the final stages of the preceding test.

00:09:30 As soon as the last sample is delivered to the reaction tube, the sample presentation switch is turned off.

00:09:39 The new samples are placed on the rack handler.

00:09:43 The reaction tube containing the last of the previous series of tests is marked for identification.

00:09:50 As each reagent is added to this last sample, the corresponding pump is turned off.

00:10:03 When the last reaction mixture has been picked up by the spectrophotometer probe,

00:10:08 the process switch and the left dispenser switch on the controller are turned off.

00:10:14 The right dispenser switch is activated.

00:10:18 The pipetter reagents are changed and the pump volumes are readjusted.

00:10:41 The wavelength on the spectrophotometer is adjusted and zeroed.

00:10:47 The sample identification number is set to zero.

00:10:53 And the sample presentation switch is activated.

00:10:57 When the process button is turned on, the robot chemist begins the new analysis.

00:11:03 This changeover took less than two minutes, and virtually any changeover can be effected in less than five minutes.

00:11:11 With Warner Chilcott's robot chemist, the age of the automated test tube begins.

00:11:17 It is an obedient servant to the laboratory analyst who requires fast, accurate information.

00:11:23 With a printed result being provided every 30 seconds, there are substantial savings in both time and labor.

00:11:30 And since the operator selects the procedure and programs the robot chemist,

00:11:35 it does exactly what the analyst wants it to do.

00:11:39 The Warner Chilcott Instruments Division offers free consultation on automated wet chemical analysis.

00:11:47 For additional information, contact Warner Chilcott Instruments Division,

00:11:52 200 South Garrard Boulevard, Richmond, California, 94804.

00:11:58 Or call us, collect, area code 415, phone 235-9110.