Visit the Watson-Marlow Bredel Pumps web site
Click on the advert above to visit the company web site

Product category: OEM Pumps
News Release from: Watson-Marlow Bredel Pumps | Subject: M Series pumps
Edited by the Engineeringtalk Editorial Team on 12 June 2003

Peristaltic pumps aid DNA testing

Bee Robotics of Caernarfon, North Wales, incorporates M Series pumps in its "Bee Blot", an innovative instrument developed to automate a DNA related assay process.

Reflecting the increasing use of Watson-Marlow Bredel peristaltic pumps on OEM applications, Bee Robotics of Caernarfon, North Wales, incorporates M Series pumps in its "Bee Blot", an innovative instrument developed to automate a DNA related assay process for testing donor tissue and matching for potential transplant surgery Seven pumps are fitted in each unit, six for dispensing reagents to tray wells, the seventh for aspiration

Developed by Bee Robotics to automate a DNA assay process previously carried out by hand, the prototype was produced in just six months, the first production model was introduced in 1999 and there are now more than two hundred in service throughout the world.

Managing Director Steve Jones cites reliability, simple, easy tube changing, ultra compact, space-saving design, hygiene and guaranteed integrity of the sample during the pumping process as primary factors in selection of Watson-Marlow peristaltic pumps for fitting into the Bee Blot instrument.

The pumps used are single channel Model M1, fitted with Marprene tubing; flow rate is 1 to 4ml/min.

The system provides fully automated washing and hybridisation of strip based assays and is capable of accommodating six different reagents and a total of 48 strips per run using a stepper motor controlled dispensing head with six reagent channels, each with its own pump and dedicated tubing, dispensing to tray wells.

Tubing connectors are colour coded to assist reagent location.

Operating under software control via an integral keypad, typical run time is approximately two and a half hours, allowing three or more runs per day.

Reversibility is an important feature of the pump for the duty.

After the last reagent dispensing step, the pumps are reversed and reagent is returned to the dispensing bottles.

An automatic cleaning step is incorporated into the operational cycle when cleaning fluid is passed through the tubing.

Features of the Bee Blot design include software allowing for assays to be custom designed, the ability to heat samples to predetermined temperatures within the assay protocol by means of a specially developed non-water-based heating system and an integral fan for cooling the tray after a heating step for ambient reagent dispensing.

Bee Robotics is an ISO9001/2000 approved company, which designs and manufactures robotics instruments for the medical industry.

The company has recently moved to new, larger premises to realise their need for expanding the business and to build on their success over the past three years.

The company has enjoyed worldwide distribution of their instruments with several placed in the UK and the Republic of Ireland.

The instruments have been well received in the market with repeat orders achieved from several sources.

Designed for OEM pumping duties, Watson-Marlow M Series pumps are produced in single-, two-, three-, four- and eight-channel configurations for flow rates from 10ul/min to 200ml/min. Request a free brochure from Watson-Marlow Bredel Pumps ...

• Watson-Marlow Bredel Pumps: contact details and other news
• Email this article to a colleague
• Register for the free Engineeringtalk email newsletter
• Engineeringtalk Home Page

Search the Pro-Talk network of sites

Visit the Watson-Marlow Bredel Pumps web site