The Beckman Coulter Echo is an acoustic dispenser for contactless dispensing of small volumes with high precision - for volumes as small as 2.5 nL.
Synthace workflows, simulated against the Echo device, will produce a downloadable instruction file which can be executed via the Echo Cherry Pick software.
This video gives a brief overview, demonstrating how to use a Beckman Coulter Echo with Synthace.
Building Echo workflows in Synthace
When building workflows targeted at execution on dispensers it is essential to remember the physical limitations of the hardware you are executing your workflow. The impact of this is important to consider when constructing your workflow within the Synthace Workflow Builder.
Dispensing can only be from a source to a destination, the device cannot dispense from its output location or mix.
Certain elements within the workflow builder are not supported when using an Echo. These are:
Incubate
Dilute - Serial dilution only
Move Plates & Move Plates back
Additionally, any step which involves aspirating from an output plate will not be possible. This places certain design constraints on what you can do and how you can do it. The Echo also has only one output plate position which can be handled at a time. For many applications, this is not an issue due to the high well density typically used in low-volume experiments, which the Echo is best suited to.
There is currently no Synthace Hub integration - we provide downloadable device instructions files that should then be uploaded to the vendor software.
To Note:
Unlike other dispensers, the unique dispense mechanism for the Echo allows for very low minimum transfer volumes which is 2.5 nl. This will come with constraints that you should consider when implementing the Beckman Echo in Synthace. Like the device design, Synthace will only allow for liquid transfers to be made in incremental values of 2.5 nl.
If you are intending on performing a Spacefill DOE with range values on the Echo, please keep this constraint in mind.
If your workflow is hitting these device constraints, your simulation will fail and you will be prompted to modify your final concentrations or modify your input concentrations, if applicable.
Labware Compatibility
Input plates are constrained to a number of device-specific plate types. These are carefully manufactured and calibrated to the Echo to ensure functional liquid dispensing. To ensure that no incompatible plate types are used, your device will be assigned a set of input plates that can be used when simulating a workflow against an Echo device. These will be communicated to you by your Customer Success team.
Tip: We encourage you to implement a naming for Echo-specific plate types - i.e. Labcyte 384PP - ECHO only. Synthace will typically provide you with plates that clearly identify them as Echo input plates.
Liquid calibrations
Liquid calibrations are used by the Echo to describe the acoustic parameters which should be used to perform a liquid handling step. A calibration is constructed from two inputs: the plate type and the liquid type, i.e. each plate type has a set of calibrations associated with it, and each can be used for the dispensing of a different liquid type.
Useable liquid calibrations and plate types are set in the device configuration and will be set up by your Customer Success team.
Find out more about using ECHO calibrations in your Synthace workflow here.
In order to control Liquid Policy usage simply assign the Liquid Policy in the table above to the desired liquid.
1. In the define liquids and plate elements, first define the liquid you are working with. Once defined, navigate to the Liquid Policies heading and add new entry, define the liquid name and open the Select a Policy interface. Liquids can be referenced by their Liquid Name, default (all liquids), or by tags.
2. Select the required liquid policy
3. Go ahead and simulate your workflow. In the preview, you can see the Liquid Policy you have selected is used for each transfer by highlighting the transfer arrows. The details of the calibration which has been selected in the workflow are viewable by downloading the device instructions file. The column “Source Plate Type” will display the calibration which has been assigned to each liquid.
4. Once you are happy with your simulated workflow, simply click on Start Execution
5. In Execution Details, each device stage shows a reference table of the input and output plates required 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.
To run an execution stage on the LabCyte Echo®, download the instruction file by clicking on DOWNLOAD on the corresponding execution stage.
6. The instruction file worklist contains all the planned liquid transfers, which can require 1 or more input plates and 1 or more output plates. These instructions can then be uploaded to the Echo software via the Cherry Pick software for execution.
7. 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.’
9. Repeat for each additional stage.
IMPORTANT: When uploading your device instructions to the Echo application "Cherry Pick" be sure to disable the "Remove Duplicate Lines" option. This ensures that the instructions provided by the device instructions remain unaltered by the vendor software.