Has anyone successfully integrated a thermocycler with a Tecan 780? I am trying to scope out how I would go about trying to integrate any type of thermocycler with a Tecan 780 and I was wondering if anyone here had good ideas.
We have the Inheco ODTC intergrated which is located below the worktable inside the cabinet.
Bought together with the fluent and was done by Tecan so not a lot of knowledge on setting this up.
Fluent control has specific functions to start methods, but these have to be made outside FluentControl and loaded on the ODTC before one can select it in the script.
You’re saying the methods on the ODTC need to be loaded before they can be selected in the script?
We use ODTCs on other systems and it probably works the same way as Tecan’s driver. You design your protocols in the ODTC software, save them, and then you can call those protocols from the Tecan software. In the Tecan software you won’t have the granularity to tell the ODTC directly what temp or how many cycles you want it to do, you have to create a new protocol for every slight variation you would want.
Yes, you will build the protocol itself in the Inheco software. The Tecan driver has a command which will allow you to push the Inheco program onto the Inheco device. Then there is a Tecan driver command to run one of the programs that is pre-loaded onto the ODTC device. The device can only run programs that are loaded into the actual ODTC, it doesn’t run a file off of a separate computer. Many customers have these integrated on the Fluent. I have seen them integrated below deck. They can also be integrated using a lower deck segment which can be good for keeping the heights more uniform across the worktable, or some may look at putting it on the right side. The ODTC program itself also has a few tricks to it in terms of matching the temperatures when creating some of the looping steps. We can help you with the integration or the scripting. Mike Mueller Nucleus Automation Partners
The ODTC is Tecan’s preferred option,
We have handled a few Tecan Fluent installations of Thermo’s ATC
And also AJ’s Biometra
Biometra TRobot II – Automated PCR Thermal Cycler - Analytik Jena (analytik-jena.com)
I’ve been pretty happy with out Inheco ODTCs, but I’m always looking for alternatives. What’s your impressions on the other two examples? Pretty stable? Good API support?
We have 4 ODTCs on a workcell that run quite a lot, only one warranty issue so far. And support from TekMatic has been outstanding.
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I have some experience with all three - Thermo ATC on a Biomek, ODTC on a Star, and Biometra TRobot on a HighRes workcell. Currently, none of them are getting extensive use, so I’m not sure about reliability. I have another 12 ODTCs on order for integration into a new workcell.
The ODTC is the most compact and is the only one to offer different venting options. It is the most power hungry, but only during aggressive ramping. System control and method editing are split into different software modules.
The AJ TRobot requires 2x the vertical space of the ODTC because of the lid. It can do gradients and uses half the power of the ODTC. System control and method creation are done in the same modern-looking software. I like the fleet control options where you can see the status of all units.
The Thermo ATC is intermediate in size. The lid is loud. The software is basic, but gets the job done. The Beckman integration seems more complex than necessary; not sure if thats a Beckman or Thermo thing.
I have not done any head to head performance comparisons, but have heard good things about the consistency of the ODTC.
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Have you reached out to Tecan?
They have a robust driver and written instructions (for probably all TC’s but for sure for the ODTC).
What do you do for lids and/or sealing?
We used an ATC on an integration w/ a PlateLoc. But there was always a lot of condensation on the seal, so we added a centrifuge. Centrifuge, PlateLoc, & XPeel was a lot of extra overhead, I’d love to hear if others have a better solution.
What do you have in the wells?
Have you ever considered using mineral oil to “seal” the samples?
We were using them for all of the temperature controlled steps in RNAseq library prep. There are 6 different enzymatic steps at different temps, plus a normal PCR amplification run.
Mineral oil was suggested, but seemed like a lot of extra work. Although integrating the other devices also was a lot of extra work…
Haha totally fair but as you mentioned, compared to the integration of additional hardware it’s not so bad (especially if you’re constrained by space).
Also not having to deal with sealers and desealers (I dislike the XPeel so much), etc…
It’s worth the extra work in the short term for the massive convenience in the long term, especially at scale. I would just be mindful (as you know) that mineral oil spills are nasty.
Everything is not worth automating (gasp!). If you are not processing lots of plates IMVHO PCR is one of them. The fact you need to add a sealer, peeler and maybe a centrifuge makes the process much less robust. I have heard good things about the Hamilton Comfort Lids and have a sleeve that I have not tested yet.
We are using the Hamilton Comfort Lids on the Biomek/ATC and I will probably try going that route with the ODTC on the Star as well. We were using seals with the TRobot, but that was on a system that already had a PlateLoc and XPeel.
I had not considered mineral oil, but I’ll keep that in mind as an option. Out of curiosity, what makes a mineral oil spill so terrible? I have dealt with DMSO spills and assume it would be similar.
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I haven’t spilled DMSO yet so I don’t have a reference for that experience.
But typing that out probably just jinxed me.
Thanks a lot!
Thanks for the info - I’ll try out the Comfort Lids.
Do you spin the plates down before taking off the lid? Any issue with condensation or dripping?
The methods that appear in the menu of the Execute Method command are the ones that are stored on the ODTC’s device memory, hence yes the methods must be loaded to the ODTC before they can be selected.
You can easily upload methods using the Device Manager software from Inheco and there you will see a list of all methods and upload or remove ODTC methods from the ODTC device.
One can also upload methods using FluentControl with the Set Parameters command, it only needs to be uploaded once, then the method is permanently stored on the ODTC memory
You can also call a ODTC method at the Execute Method command with a variable let’s say methodName and then the command Execute Method uses tilde to mark the variable e.g. ~methodName~.
Mineral oil / vapor lock is just nasty stuff. It’s hard to clean. It’s benign i.e. non hazardous but if it spills on your deck or labware it’s a nightmare.
You don’t have to deal with any condensation issues using the comfort lid without a vapor lock / mineral oil layer?