Summary
Gyger CERTUS FLEX is a fully automatic dispenser for contactless dispensing of various fluids with highly precise Gyger micro valve technology. Electromagnetically controlled micro valves enable high throughput dispense from 50 nl to several millilitres into all manner of well plates.
Synthace workflows, simulated against the CERTUS FLEX device, will produce a set of downloadable instructions which can be executed via the Gyger Certus Control software.
This video gives a brief overview, demonstrating how to use a CERTUS FLEX with Synthace.
See below for details on how to execute Synthace’s liquid handling instructions on the Gyger CERTUS FLEX.
Dispensing Heads
CERTUS FLEX can be configured with several dispensing heads which vary by the number of input channels, dispensing angle, and type and volume of liquid supply (syringe or bottle). Gyger offers four head variations: 4 channels; 8 channels (4x2); 4 channels (22° tilted); 8 channels (22° tilted). The Synthace integration provides support for 4 channels (22° tilted), 8-channels (4x2), and the 8-channel (22° tilted) heads.
CERTUS FLEX does not use input plates and has relatively little restriction on the output plates which can be used. However our integration does use Synthace labware concepts, which Synthace cover in this section.
The Synthace integration with the CERTUS FLEX uses a single input plate type to represent both the head format and the specific configuration (e.g. syringe kit, bottles). Synthace will validate these, and for Certus Flex-targeting workflows only supports input ‘plates’ with the correct layout (4 rows, 2 columns or 8 rows, 1 column). The supported head format is reflected in the protocol file Synthace generates as part of device instructions, and would require re-simulating if this is changed. If the incorrect head configuration is defined in your workflow, and there is a mismatch between the installed head and the device instructions generated by Synthace, an error will be displayed during execution in the Certus Control software.
Output Plates
CERTUS FLEX works with a wide variety of output plates: ANSI(96, 384, 1536), special(24, 48, 3456) and custom format. Available plate heights vary from default 3-50 mm to 3-75 mm special configuration. Synthace provides an ability to author plate files if the relevant specifications aren’t already available on the user’s device.
Both Synthace and Certus Control software will validate liquid volumes against the stated maximum for the plate. It is therefore advisable to import the correct plate definition generated by Synthace, as described below, prior to importing the protocol into Certus Control.
Setting Up for Execution
Downloading device instructions
On the Simulation Details page in Synthace press ‘START EXECUTION’ in the top-right. You will be taken to the Executions page.
In Execution Details, each device stage shows a reference table of the input and output plates required for each instruction file. Run them in the order provided in the table. To prepare the plates needed for each instruction file, hover over each input and output plate to visualise what liquids it needs to contain at the start of the corresponding part of the run.
Press 'DOWNLOAD’ to download the instructions for Stage 1.
You will be prompted to save the file in the usual way. All device instructions for a single stage are downloaded together in this file, which is a zip archive.
To access device instructions, navigate to the folder you saved them to and unzip the archive using appropriate software. You will see a set of files such as this. Each file type is explained in more detail in the section below.
Once you have completed the execution for Stage 1, click ‘MARK AS COMPLETE’ and add a comment (if desired). The status will change from ‘In progress’ to ‘Succeeded.’
Repeat this process for any additional Stages in your experimental workflow.
Understanding Device Instructions Files
Once unzipped, the device instruction files will consist of three file types:
`
.protocol` file
Is an internal XML-based format defined by Gyger for specifying liquid dispensing. This single file contains a full set of liquid transfer instructions, dispense pattern, layering information, along with some other details of the dispensing, such as constraints on multi dispensing, etc.
The protocol depends on the definition of a microplate, identified by a combination of name and a unique ID.
`
.plate` file
Is an internal XML-based format defined by Gyger for specifying microplate geometry. This file contains the definition of the output microplate parameters in the format Certus Control software can import.
`
Fluid_mapping_file.txt` file
A helper file called `Fluid_mapping_file.txt` which provides a reference for which liquid types should be connected to which CERTUS FLEX head channel.
Use of these files is covered in the following sections.
Importing Plate Definition into Certus Control software
If the output plate type you have selected in your Synthace workflow is not already defined in the Certus Control software, you will need to import that plate definition before opening and running a protocol.
Open the Certus Control application and login as usual.
Navigate to 'Library'.
Navigate to 'Well Plate'.
From the top menu select ‘Import’ -> ‘Import from file…’ and select the `.plate` file from the device instructions you have downloaded earlier.
Tick the box next to the plate definition description and click 'Import'.
Close Certus Control Library manager, saving the changes.
Importing a Protocol into Certus Control software
Open the Certus Control application and login as usual.
Navigate to the ‘Protocol Editor’.
Navigate to ‘Experiment’.
Select ‘Open’ and use the requester to find the folder you extracted the downloaded instructions to, remembering to select the `.protocol` extension in the bottom right of the requester.
The protocol depends on a definition of a microplate, identified by a combination of name and a unique ID.
If the required plate is not known to the Certus Control software you will be prompted to choose an alternative.
Otherwise you should see the first dispensing layer displayed as usual.
To execute the protocol, follow the protocol execution procedure as indicated in the manufacturer's instructions as normal.
Setting up the Certus: Liquid to Channel Allocation
To help with device setup the instructions zip file contains a `Fluid_mapping_file.txt` file - a reference list detailing which channel has been assigned which type of fluid. You can use this file to help when loading your liquids into the respective channels on the Certus device.
An example is shown below for an 8x1 head:
Channel / Fluid mapping:
Channel number 1 (Fluid1): water
Channel number 2 (Fluid2): water
Channel number 3 (Fluid3): empty
Channel number 4 (Fluid4): empty
Channel number 5 (Fluid5): empty
Channel number 6 (Fluid6): empty
Channel number 7 (Fluid7): empty
Channel number 8 (Fluid8): empty
Channels are always listed going down columns starting with the top-leftmost. For 4x2 heads the file above would look like this if translated literally:
Channel / Fluid mapping:
Channel number 5 (Fluid5): empty
Channel number 6 (Fluid6): empty
Channel number 7 (Fluid7): empty
Channel number 8 (Fluid8): empty
Channel number 1 (Fluid1): water
Channel number 2 (Fluid2): water
Channel number 3 (Fluid3): empty
Channel number 4 (Fluid4): empty
However, Synthace will always favour the top-leftmost channel when assigning fluids so in reality the file generated would look like this:
Channel / Fluid mapping:
Channel number 5 (Fluid5): water
Channel number 6 (Fluid6): water
Channel number 7 (Fluid7): empty
Channel number 8 (Fluid8): empty
Channel number 1 (Fluid1): empty
Channel number 2 (Fluid2): empty
Channel number 3 (Fluid3): empty
Channel number 4 (Fluid4): empty
Advanced Device Configuration
Advanced CERTUS FLEX configuration can be achieved via Synthace device instance configuration file. Please see an example CertusFlexConfiguration.json to get an idea how it could look like.
As an end user, you are not expected to create such a file yourself. Instead, Synthace engineering and customer success teams will work with you to capture your device configuration needs and help set up your device appropriately.
It is, however, important to understand the device parameters that can be adjusted. Synthace device instance configuration file provides a way of configuring dispense volume limits, fluid matching and layering.
Volume Limits
The range volumes transferrable in a single dispense operation is specified by two parameters:
`
MinVolume` - a minimum possible volume in microlitres which could be transferred in one go`
MaxVolume` - a maximum possible volume in microlitres which could be transferred in one go
MinVolume and MaxVolume refer to microlitre volumes. They correspond to a minimum or a maximum volume respectively which could be transferred during one dispense action.
Fluid Matching
The device has a text file which defines known types of liquid. These are identified jointly by name and unique identifier - these must match or the software will complain. Synthace addresses this issue by only using the default Fluid1...Fluid8 classes which the software comes with.
The configuration contains a list of these fluids in the Fluids section like so:
"Fluids": [
{
"Name": "Fluid1",
"GUID": "916c8569-8080-448d-aa4f-fd9c990b74b1"
},
{
"Name": "Fluid2",
"GUID": "4eb23d61-0f69-4066-8fea-58a959d70b6c"
},
*If you have created custom Fluid ID values in the Gyger software, it is possible to map these custom values to the GUID values in the device configuration file.
Layering Control
It is possible to control the way in which Synthace plans the transfer of liquids with regards to how they are split into different layers within the device instructions. This is achieved by a single `OptimizeLayering` parameter.
There are two options to control this behaviour:
`
both` - optimization allows different fluid types to be present in one or more layers. This enables the device to simultaneously dispense different fluids, thus achieving the shortest execution time, but disregards the order of fluid addition.`
fluid` - optimization generates one or more layers per fluid type and never has more than one fluid in any given layer. Because CERTUS FLEX dispenses layers individually and sequentially, this allows to control the order of fluid addition, but may be slow to execute.