BOSTON, Aug. 6 - Thermo Electron hopes to launch a high-throughput, automated version of its Raman molecular spectrometer as early as next year, a company official told GenomeWeb today.
The company has already automated the data-acquisition part of its existing spectrometer into a 384-well format, according to Steve Lowery, an official in Thermo's spectroscopy division. The firm's next step is to consult with its recent acquisition CRS Robotics to develop a way of running multiple plates automatically--"as many as a hotel of 40 plates [and to] completely integrate it into the standard format."
"What our customers are saying is, 'Gee, we want to go into high throughput-research mode where we can prepare our samples in a well plate and obtain molecular structure information from any one of the cells,'" said Lowery.
Lowery, who spoke briefly to a GenomeWeb reporter during the 2002 Drug Discovery Technology meeting here today, said Thermo "is very close" to wrapping up R&D. "The key is the mobilized stage and the access of plates in and out of the stage set up," he said. "We hope to have it launched next year."