A benchtop ultrasonic cleaner proved superior to an automated microplate washer with integrated manifold tube cleaning.

Rachel Kohn, Ph.D., Tovatech LLC, Plano, TX

Biopharma labs routinely use microplates for cell-based assays, microsphere-based assays, and ELISA applications. Microplate washers are used to clean the plates. Manifold tube clogs are the most common source of failure on plate washers. Some plate washers come with built-in ultrasonics to clean clogged microtubes, but they are often not favored by lab personnel who prefer to wash the manifolds off-line. Procedures to remove clogs and contaminants in manifold tubes can involve time consuming manual insertion of a cleaning wire or stylus tool into each tube.

I was contacted by a researcher at one major pharmaceutical laboratory who was looking for an alternate off-line method to replace laborious manual manifold washing. Since I wasn’t familiar with this application for an ultrasonic bath, I recommended conducting a cleaning trial with a demo unit. For this trial the researcher planned to clean a manifold with the following dimensions: 5.5 x 3.7 x 2.5 inches. I selected the Elmasonic P60H and associated basket for this demo.  The basket for the P60H is 10 x 4.1 x 3.7 inches, a good size for the manifold.