Flow cytometry has evolved significantly with technological advances including spectral and imaging modalities, expanding its applications across clinical, GMP flow cytometry, mass cytometry, and conventional platforms. Despite these instrumental improvements, the cell staining protocol, a critical step in cytometric workflows, remains largely manual and has not kept pace with automation advances in other laboratory specialties.
This lag in staining automation is particularly consequential given that cell staining requires post-centrifugation resuspension, generating two to three times more pipette tip waste than plate-based assays. The multi-step, multi-reagent nature of staining protocols contributes substantially to the broader laboratory plastic waste crisis, with pipette tips and tip boxes alone accounting for 80% of laboratory single-use plastic waste. As laboratories worldwide generate approximately 5.5 million tonnes of plastic waste annually – a number projected to increase with the global pipette tip market expected to double by 2030 – the need for sustainable, automated solutions to flow cytometry staining has become both scientifically and environmentally urgent. Addressing this challenge through technological innovation is essential for accelerating drug discovery workflows while reducing the environmental burden of laboratory operations.
A new scientific paper showcases how CellarioScheduler dynamic scheduler and Nucleus lab automation systems from HighRes Biosolutions is enabling unprecedented advances in automated flow cytometry workflows.
In this breakthrough research, our customers at Pfizer integrated CellarioScheduler with the Staining Triad (Fig. 1, Video 1) a fully automated cell staining system that eliminates manual processing while maximizing efficiency.
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Figure 1. Design of the Staining Triad. A. The system comprises several key components: (A) Plate hotel, (B) Automated centrifuge, (C) Plate washer, (D) Robotic arm, (E) Barcode scanner, (F) Plate shaker, (G) Static nest, and (H) Transient plate shelf. B. The top view illustrates the spatial arrangement of system components across two levels, detailing the allocation of staining reagents on each plate washer, the use of a shared stain buffer bottle for wash steps, and the placement of the robotic arm on Level 1.
Video 1. Staining Triad in motion featuring a HighRes Biosolutions system.
🔹 Advanced simulation features that optimize hardware design and minimize processing time before physical implementation
🔹 Seamless LIMS integration through RESTful API architecture
🔹 Intelligent instrument coordination across multiple platforms
🔹 Protocol optimization for complex, multi-step staining procedures
The article details how CellarioScheduler's scheduling intelligence solved critical bottlenecks in automated centrifugation, enabling the system to process 50-70 plates with unprecedented speed and reliability.
Read the full article to learn how intelligent scheduling software is revolutionizing lab automation.