“Cherry Picker” Blake Hondl, Amit Mehta, Jon Millin, Ryan Pope Advisor: Professor Tompkins BME 301 Spring 2004

Client Noël R. Peters, M.S. Keck-UWCCC Small Molecule Screening Facility

Overview Problem Statement Background Design Constraints Design Alternatives Proposed Design Future Work

Problem Statement A device to guide a micropipette user in the transfer of small volumes of compounds between 384-well micro liter plates. The device will increase the efficiency of transfers and reduce user error.

384-Well Plate

Background Drug-like chemicals used in biological assays Substance tested against 36,000 known chemicals Chemical mixed with reagents in micro-liter wells Biomek® FX Laboratory Workstation

Background Well plates loaded into plate reader Typically 1-4 wells meet the absorbance, fluorescence or luminescence requirements, known as “hits” “Hits” are retested EnVison® Plate Reader

Design Constraints Must interface with Microsoft  Excel  Effectively guide the user to the appropriate wells Minimize required bench space Withstand exposure to various chemicals and reagents Lightweight and inexpensive (<$1000)

Current Competition Matrix Memowell ® – 96 well pipetting aid – Lights up 4 wells when used with 384-well plate – Costs approx. $1000 Quadra Cherry Picker – Automated – Costs $150,

Computer Interface Client uses a Dell PC with Windows ® XP Use a port to connect device to PC – Monitor (VGA) port – USB or serial port Send data through port to device

Software Choose a programming language – Java – C++ Choose a programming environment and compiler to create application – Microsoft ® Visual ® – Metrowerks™ CodeWarrior™ Application will take input from user and Excel file

Proposed Designs 384 Fiber Optic Array 384 LED Array LCD Screen

Fiber Optics 384 individually controlled fibers Low intensity light Very small light source

384 LED Array Similar to Memowell device Microcontroller interfaced with a Computer 384 surface mount LED’s Light up both row and column High intensity light source

LED Schematic

Proposed Solution LCD screen to show output of application – 2 wells fixed in place on screen – Lines (cross-hairs) displayed to identify wells to user Application – Takes input from both an Excel file listing “hits” and user Picture of 384 well plate on lcd screen of a laptop.

Decision Matrix Fiber OpticLED LCD Feasibility32 1 Cost22 3 Ease of use32 1 Manufacturing (labor)33 1 Adaptability33 1 Average score GoodBetter Best

Future Work Connect LCD screen through external port Determine best platform for implementation Experiment with output to LCD screen Determine necessary output for every well Write code to illuminate proper wells for all possible combinations Construct user interface

Any Questions?

References “LCD Basics: Monitor Technology 101.” ViewSonic. “LCD Video Controller.” Subassembly Product Guide. “Product Specification for LB104V03 Liquid Crystal Display.” Products Engineering Dept. LG. Philips LCD Co., Ltd. A1_CAS(Ver0.1).pdf “Java Excel API Tutorial”.

Conclusion: LCD Device Because of labor savings over soldering 768 individual LED’s (384 wells per plate times 2 plates) and because of the rapid adaptability of an LCD by the implementation of new programming, it was decided to pursue the LCD screen design further.

LCD Design LCD contains: – One or more cold cathode fluorescent lamps (CCFL) – Liquid crystal grid – Controlling circuitry Video receiver circuit LCD driver circuit Inverter

System Diagram

Typical LCD Schematic