Automation and high-throughput for LNP formulation screening

This will depend on what your experiment flow rates and experiment volumes are – but as an example, running a set of 96 experiments at a total flow rate of 15 ml/min will complete in around 6-8 hours. These can of course be run in smaller blocks with a changover of well plates between experiment sets.

The needle of each fluid handler is washed both internally and externally after aspirating/dispensing from/to the well plates. All system tubing is also washed between experiment rows.

The recommended minimum volume is 100 uL per input. The minimum total experiment volume would therefore be 200 uL (or 300 uL if dilution is used).

Our glass microfluidic chips are chemically robust, and can be cleaned with acids/bases/detergents to remove internal contamination. With good care and cleaning procedures, the chips can be used indefinitely. Due to the flow restrictions within the channel, a likely cause of failure may be a channel blockage that cannot be removed.

ALiS is ideal for the synthesis of nanoparticles which can be produced by an experiment that mixes 2 fluids at room temperature. Prominent examples of particles that can be made using this process include Liposomes, lipid nanoparticles, polymer nanoparticles (such as PLGA or PCL). There are a number of other material types with published literature using this type of process – if you are unsure whether your particles can be made with ALiS, our team can offer you advice on this, so please get in touch!

No, you can choose to run as many or as few experiments as you would like. Depending on the stability of reagents, some users will prefer to run a smaller number of experiements before taking the collected product for downstream processing.

ALiS is intended for high throughput screening of a large number of sample formulations. Process parameters can also be screened using ALiS, as well as exploring a range of chip geometries (though the chip has to be changed in between experiment sets). ALiS does not have a continuous mode of operation, and therefore is not suitable for the generation of larger samples or production runs – the maximum collection volume is limited to 2 ml, where the ANP System can produce larger test samples up to 8 ml, as well as run in continuous production mode.

ALiS uses 3 of its pumping channels for fluid handling, and 3 of its pump channels for running experiments. Each channel can pump at up to 10 ml/min, so the maximum flow rate is 30 ml/min, including dilution. At such high flow rates, larger input volumes are advised to ensure high quality samples can still be collected.

A table of experimental conditions (where each row is a single experiment) can be imported into the system control software (FCC 7). Each experiment row will refer to a specific well plate position on each of the 2 input Fluid Handlers. When the system runs, it will aspirate the required volume of sample from each of these wells, and load the fluid into sample loops. When the system is ready to run an experiment, these loaded fluid samples are released into the system flow path with precise timing, so that they converge on the microfluidic chip. The collection of the particles produced is managed by the collection fluid handler, which traps the particles in a 3rd sample loop, and then dispenses the particles into a designated well on the collection well plate. The system then washes, and the process repeats for each line in the imported experiment table.

ALiS has an in-line dilution capability to reduce the proportion of Ethanol ALiS can be paused during an experiment set to allow the collection well plate to be removed for the downstream processing of a number of samples. Replace the wellplate with an empty one, and click resume for the remaining experiments to continue.

ALiS is compatible with a number of well plate covers, including heat sealed foil covers and pre-scored plate covers, which prevent ingress of environmental contaminants as well as reducing the evaporation of solvents from well plates. ALiS is not compatible with septum seals/airtight plate seals, or self-adhesive plate seals.