RTS launches mid size sample stores
incorporate an integral cherry picking feature that can handle
plates, tubes and vials. The two product additions follow on from
RTS's small store, SmaRTStore and are aimed at the clinical
laboratory sector.
Both the Sample-Store 20 and Sample-Store 50 are designed to hold liquid, genomic and proteomic samples. The throughput for both stores is approximately 360 plates per hour.
As with all other RTS Stores, sample integrity and the inventory are maintained thanks to an integrated 96-way 2D data matrix reader and associated barcode system. The robust racking boasts a stringent design for improved accuracy and features plastic runners to help maintain interior cleanliness.
Sample-Store 20 and Sample-Store 50 draw on similar technology as the SmaRTStore, but have been specifically designed to bridge the gap between it and RTS's large, custom stores.
RTS claim the new product range can cut lead times to around six months. The systems are therefore suitable particularly when there are concerns about compound library growth or where there is a demand for increasing miniaturisation of processes.
"We have chosen the sizes of these two stores extremely carefully. Sample-Store 20 is able to store in excess of 20,000 plates or almost a million tubes, whereas its bigger brother is able to store over 50,000 plates or almost two million tubes," Chris Walsh, RTS product manager for Sample-Store 20 and Sample-Store 50, said.
"The capacities of both stores have been optimised for standard height plates, and both will operate at temperatures between -20oC and room temperature. In addition, both stores feature integral cherry-picking, he added."
The Sample-Store 20 and the Sample-Store 50 uses the d-SPRINT/SIS control and inventory management solution. This includes all the standard d-SPRINT facilities, together with new features such as 'Location Monitor', which provides a web-based, dynamic view of all the equipment and labware states within the system.
It's 'Hotel Storage Manager' feature, manages the storage allocation within the output carousels. Central to the system are the SIS database and Store Administrator, which together provide a means of controlling order processing and a standard interface for straightforward connection to clients' ordering systems and LIMS.
