Inter-channel differences in Tecan Fluent

Hi All, I am a new user of Tecan Fluent, I have observed that for the FCA, there is a fair bit of difference beween the amounts aspirated/dispensed between the 8 channels giving rise to more than 5% in %CV, has anyone come across this issue? I am trying to ascertain whether it is specific to our Fluent or a general issue. If anyone has seen it before, how have you dealt with it? Is it possible to do control indvidual channels via worklist?

Welcome to the forum,

channel to channel variability is normal for most automated pipettors,

the Fluent & it’s liquid class microscript functions allow you to dial in each channel - either using the “Accuracyadjust” function for a global adjustment or the channel specific “AdjustRangeByChannel” to adjust specifically per channel volumes

what types of accuracy & precision are you hoping to achieve ?
what volumes are you pipetting ?
what types of liquids ?
what configuration of pipetting arm is on the fluent?
what tip types ?

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Thanks a lot for the warm welcome, we are hoping to achieve ~ 100% accuracy and <3% CV, that is the acceptance criteria for our assay to be automated, we have carried out an extensive accuracyadjutment procedure with the Tecan excel tool with a single channel, and have refined send volumes for liquid volumes of ~ 20 ul, we have aqueous liquid with different concentration of protein ~ upto 100 mg/ml, we have done accuracyadjust for both 200 ul and 1000 ul tip types, we are using the FCA on our Fluent

is the AdjustRangeByChannel variable available under the microscripts?

you will need to add it into the microscript variables,

it isn’t included by default

Can you provide an example how to do that? We are still novices in the microscript programming.

There’s just a list of variables within the liquid class

You should be able to add variables there to use in your microscript

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I found that out as well. The AdjustAccuracy() + AdjustbyChannel() is what we use in the formulas section. That excel sheet should also explain how to use it.

We had an issue like that come up after a PM replacing the DiTi channels knocked our assay out of spec. We ended up purchasing an Artel MVS at my suggestion. Way easier to calibrate for wet dispenses with mixing. We can now restore/verify the accuracy. Also makes it easier transferring liquid classes between units.

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Thanks a lot, we just had a meeting where we discussed exactly the points raised by you and we strongly advocated Artel MVS to our management. Really thankful that many here seems to have undergone similar experiences and are happy to share their knowledge

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Can we disable a specific channel in Fluent?