Open topic with navigation

You are here: Continuous Flow : Calibrating Continuous Flow Chips

Calibrating Continuous Flow Chips

Continuous Flow (CF) chips must be calibrated prior to use with new reagents. CF chip calibration determines both the minimum reagent volume that can be dispensed and the flow rate for each reagent.

Important: For the most accurate dispense possible, we recommend recalibrating your reagents each time you change CF chips. To do so, follow the instructions of the New Calibration procedure. If you recalibrate a reagent, the previous calibration data will be overwritten by the new calibration setup.

There are 2 types of TEMPEST control module hardware available in the TEMPEST system: Common Control Modules and Individual Control Modules. The following table shows which calibration methods are available for each control module.

Calibration Method Common Control Module Individual Control Module
Basic Calibration ✔ ✔
Precise Calibration   ✔*

*Recommended

Calibration Method Selection

Find out more about the calibration method in step 3.

Follow the tutorial below to calibrate a new reagent or copy any existing calibration data from a similar reagent.

 

Required Tools

Important: If you do not know the density of your reagent, please prepare one weigh boat and 1 mL of the reagent to determine the fluid density.

Prerequisites

Continuous Flow Calibration Window

To calibrate a Continuous Flow chip:

  1. Go to the Tools menu, and select Continuous Flow Calibration.

  2. In the Continuous Flow Options section, select Continuous Flow Calibration and then click Next.

    Continuous Flow Option Window

  3. Select the calibration method based on your TEMPEST control module hardware configuration.

    ClosedNew Calibration

    1. Click New Calibration to create a new calibration for the desired reagent, then click Next.

    2. Select the calibration type from the following options:

      • Basic Calibration — allows for a faster calibration process since it fills complete columns at the same time.

      • Precise Calibration — requires more time since it fills individual tubes in each column using single nozzle position, but results in more accurate dispense volumes and lower CV across the chip.

    3. Specify the calibration setup by following the steps below:

      1. Next to Reagent Name, select the reagent you want to calibrate.

      2. If you know the density of your reagent, select I know the Reagent Density and enter the Density in g/L. If you do not know the reagent density, it will be measured later in this wizard.

      3. Select the Nozzle Size of your chip from the available options, such as 0.1 mm - Red, 0.15 mm - Translucent, 0.2 mm - Blue, and so on.

      4. Select the appropriate Bottle Pressure value from the following options: 5, 10, 15, and 16.5 psi.

      5. Select the desired Bottle Size: Medium Size (100-250 mL), or Large Size (250-500 mL).

        Calibration Data Has Been Set Up and Ready to Proceed

    4. Click Start Calibration to proceed with the calibration procedure.

    5. Click Next after verifying the chip position and serial number. Make necessary corrections in the Chip Configuration tab under the Options menu.

      CF Chip Serial Number

    6. Prepare the calibration kit for use in the calibration.

      The table below explains in detail the required preparation for both the Basic and Precise calibration methods.

      Calibration Method Instructions
      Basic Calibration

      1. Prepare the vial rack in the Calibration Kit in 3 columns as shown in red in the image below.

        Basic Calibration Kit Placement

      2. Click Next when you’re done.

      3. Prime the chip:

        1. Click Start Prime to manually prime the chip with the diaphragms via a recirculate prime feature. The priming volume displayed in the wizard will be automatically updated after you click the Start Prime button.

          Prime the Chip Before Starting the Basic Calibration Process

        2. Click Stop Prime when you no longer see air bubbles in the input tubing.

        3. OPTIONAL: Select the Apply as Prime Volume to this Input option to save the achieved priming volume for the current input.

        4. Click Done.

      4. Weigh the empty vials together as columns using the balance, and then enter the total value (in grams) of each column in the provided fields. Press Enter on your keyboard when you are finished entering the empty weight for the last column. Click Next to continue.

        Weigh the Empty Individual Vials in Each Column

      5. Click Dispenseto start the calibration dispense. Wait until the dispense is completed.

      6. Repeat step 4 to weigh the individual vial after dispense, then enter the total weight of each column under the Final Weight column.

        Weigh the Individual Vial Final Weigh

      7. Proceed to step 7.
      Precise Calibration

      1. Prepare the vial rack and 1 column of vials as shown in the image below.

        Precise Calibration Kit Placement

      2. Prime the chip.

        1. Click Start Prime to manually prime the chip with the diaphragms via and recirculate prime feature. The priming volume displayed in the wizard will be automatically updated afters you click the Start Prime button.

          Prime the Chip Before Starting the Precise Calibration Process

        2. Click Stop Prime when you no longer see air bubbles in the input tubing.

        3. OPTIONAL: Select the Apply as Prime Volume to this Input option to save the achieved priming volume for the current input.

        4. Click Done.

      3. Weigh each empty vial individually using a balance, and then enter those values (in grams) in the provided fields. Press Enter on your keyboard when you are finished entering the empty weight for the last individual vial. Click Next to continue.

        Weigh the Empty Tube Strips

      4. Click Dispenseto start the calibration dispense. Wait a few minutes until TEMPEST is finished dispensing. You can see the dispensing status in the Status Bar.

      5. Weigh the individual vial after the dispense, then enter the final weights in the provided fields under the Final Weight column. Press Enter on your keyboard when you are finished entering the last tube weight. Click Next when you’re done.

        Weigh the Individual Vial Final Weigh

      6. Put the remaining vials into the four columns as shown in the image below. Click Next to proceed.

        Put the Four Tube Strips Calibration Kit

      7. Weigh each column of empty vials using a balance, and then enter the total values (in grams) of each column. Press Enter on your keyboard when you are finished entering the empty weight for the last column. Click Next to continue.

        Weigh the Four Empty Individual Vial Column

      8. Click Dispenseto start the calibration dispense. Wait a few minutes until the dispense is complete. You can see the dispensing status in the Status Bar.

      9. Repeat step 7 to weigh the individual vial after dispense, then enter the total weights of each column under the Final Weight tab. Press Enter on your keyboard when you are finished entering the last column weight.

      10. Click Next to continue.

        Weigh the Final Tube Strips

      11. Proceed to step 7.

    7. OPTIONAL: If you did not previously define your reagent density, follow the steps below to measure the reagent density.

      Measuring the Reagent Density

      1. Prepare an empty weigh boat, >1 mL of the reagent, and a well-calibrated pipette or syringe.

      2. Weigh the empty weigh boat, and enter the value in grams under the Empty Weight tab.

      3. Add 1.00 mL of the reagent to the weigh boat using the pipette, syringe, or other reliable methods.

      4. Measure the full weigh boat, and enter the value in grams under Final Weight, then Press Enter on your keyboard.

    8. Click Calculate to generate the calibration result.

    9. Congratulations! Your Continuous Flow chip has been successfully calibrated. Click Finish when you’re done.

    Continuous Flow Calibration Chip has Completed

    ClosedCopy Existing Calibration Data

    1. Click Copy Existing Calibration Data, and then click Next.

      Select Copy Existing Calibration Data in the Continuous Flow Calibration Wizard

    2. Specify the calibration setup by following the steps below.

      1. Next to Reagent Name, select the reagent you want to calibrate.

      2. Select the to-be-copied calibration data from the Select Existing Calibration Data list. At this stage, the imported calibration data will be displayed in the lower fields.

        Copy the Existing Calibration Data

      3. Click Copy Calibration.

    3. Congratulations! You have successfully imported and applied your CF calibration. You can see the results of the calibration displayed in the wizard. Click Finish when you’re done.

      Calibration Is Complete

OPTIONAL: After the chips are successfully calibrated, a Recovery Input notification will automatically appear. Click Yes if you want to recover the chips, or click No if you want to continue dispensing.

Recovery Input Message

 

Related Topics
TOW-V38R123

 

 

 

Unit 6, Level 13, Gate District, Gate Building

Dubai International Financial Centre

Dubai, United Arab Emirates

 

+1-781-788-0228

support@formulatrix.com

publications@formulatrix.com