Cell-Based Assays

Establish an end-to-end workflow
and automate cell-based assays

Overview

Cell-based assays are essential in helping us understand how healthy and diseased cells react to pharmaceutical reagents, enabling the development of new drugs and therapies. These assays serve as the basis point for new platforms designed to replicate human cell physiology as accurately as possible to meet the demand for better and more accessible treatments. However, most systems in place are time consuming, resource intensive and still do not meet evolving consumer standards around environmentally friendly production and reduced animal testing.
CYTENA has created a whole line of imaging, dispensing and liquid handling instruments— including the UP.SIGHT, CELLCYTE X, C.WASH and I.DOT—that automate and accelerate cell-based assay workflows.

Precise and Gentle
Cell Dispensing

Successful automation of cell-based assays requires an equal distribution of cells into hundreds or thousands of microwells. The UP.SIGHT is an automated single-cell dispenser with colony tracking imaging that quickly and gently dispenses cells into well plates without impacting viability. By reducing the hands-on time required to run cell-based assays, researchers can also reduce overall timelines and resources needed to complete these processes.

Multiplexed
Low-Volume Dispensing for High-Throughput Screening

High-throughput screening (HTS) of compound libraries, reagent compositions or drug concentrations requires fast and accurate liquid handling technology. The I.DOT HT is a noncontact low-volume liquid handler designed to simplify and accelerate complex liquid handling steps. The system can readily dispense cells into standard microwell plates, including 1536 and higher density formats, while decreasing overall operation costs and reagent use.

Automated Monitoring of Cellular Assays

Live cell imaging lets researchers monitor the dynamics of cellular phenotypes, particularly when the endpoint of the assay is unknown. Our CELLCYTE X imaging system offers live cell imaging for online tracking of cell behavior in response to various compounds. The imager contains three fluorescent channels, which enable flexibility with fluorescent-based measurements used in traditional assay development. The device is compact and readily fits in an incubator for time lapse cell imaging, and with help from CYTENA’s cloud-based software, researchers can remotely monitor their experiments without disturbing them. In addition, our machine learning algorithms automate the analysis of cell proliferation, cell viability, cell migration and other common assays.

Noncontact High-Throughput Plate Washing

Constant media exchange is necessary to nurture cell-based assays, otherwise cell health and overall experiment quality decrease significantly. This process is not only time consuming but also sensitive, as incorrect plate handling can lead to contamination and other issues. To minimize errors and speed up media exchange, the C.WASH reduces the number of wash cycles required, and the use of plastic, increasing turnover of assays all while minimizing the risk of cross contamination. It can also be easily integrated to many existing workflows.

Sub-Applications

Increase overall
throughput and automate many steps

A workflow that contains just one of our platforms will see faster turnaround, whether it’s single-cell dispensing, live-cell monitoring or media exchange/cell washing. An entire workflow using our technologies will see a dramatic reduction in plastic use and hands-on time and, thanks to automation, a lower error rate, thus increasing assay quality and results overall.

End-to-end
ready solutions

Futureproof your workflows with automation-ready devices that work great in combination but can also very well work as standalone devices.

Faster data turnaround

As a standalone device, the CELLCYTE X monitors cell growth in real time, providing a comprehensive analysis of ongoing experiments thanks to its powerful and flexible software. Combined with our liquid handling and single-cell isolation platforms, experiments can be set up, conducted and analyzed in a matter of days.

Research Workflows

Performing complex tasks easily and efficiently
Our user-friendly devices can reduce hands-on time in even the most complex cell-based assays. For the initial experimental setup, the UP.SIGHT platform opens the door to clonal cell culture lines, which can be initially monitored in the platform for confluency checks. The next step of the experimental design is to create different growing conditions by supplementing the culture medium with specific substances/nutrients in different concentrations. The I.DOT can significantly reduce the time spent in this step thanks to its 8-channel dispense head, which prepares the appropriate liquid conditions. Then, the CELLCYTE X provides real-time analysis of cell growth rates in different conditions, ensuring proper cell health and maintenance through the process. The upkeep and media exchange can be done with the C.WASH platform for an efficient, fast and pipette-free workflow, minimizing the stress generated by excessive handling.