High-performance microplate washing is needed in a wide range of methods in the field of Life Sciences:

• Performing ELISA assays requires fast and efficient microplate washing. Assay reproducibility and consistency between wells are of utmost importance, making automated washing very desirable. In addition, the use of a fast microplate washer reduces assay time.
• ELISA microplate coating for assay production (either for manufacturing or for own use in labs performing many ELISA assays per day) usually requires accurate dispensing and very fast microplate washing, in order to achieve a high throughput and consistency between wells. In this case it is also important to have automated plate handling, for example a microplate stacker, to increase the throughput.
• Washing cells growing in monolayer requires a gentle washing that does not disturb the cells. In this case it is very important to fine-tune all parameters of the washing process, such as force of aspiration, position of the dispensing, aspiration needle speed, and others.
• ELISpot washing often requires a very strong washing to completely remove a layer of cells without damaging the membrane.

Automated microplate washing is a challenging process. The most important challenges are:

• Reliable handling of troublesome ingredients: the reagents used in microplate coating can be troublesome, as they may clog the thin needles typically found in microplate washers, or produce large amounts of foam.
• Low residual volume: this is of utmost importance in the case of microplate coating when removing the blocking reagent, as any remains would interfere in the assay to be performed in the microplates, but also in any washing protocol.
• Gentle washing in the case of cell washing, as already mentioned. This may also be important in some ELISA assays, if the attachment of the coating to the microplate is weak.

Our Zoom HT Microplate Washers are able to accomplish all of this and much more, thanks to their high performance and flexibility. They can wash both 96-well and 384-well microplates without any hardware changes, as the same wash head is suitable for both microplate types.