Figure 6 A single head consisting of a 12×8 format array of 96 piezo-actuated dispensers. The dispensers are oriented vertically with the discharge orifice of the glass microcapillary facing down. The stainless steel-covered top of each microcapillary is inserted into its own Teflon tube that is connected to the hydraulic pressure control system. The ribbon cables are electrical connections to the electrical pulse control circuitry. Each PSDR uses 4 of these 96-dispenser heads to paulitate simultaneous liquid delivery to 4 NanoWell plates.

doi:10.1201/9780203910696-84

Chapter

Figure 6 A single head consisting of a 12×8 format array of 96 piezo-actuated dispensers. The dispensers are oriented vertically with the discharge orifice of the glass microcapillary facing down. The stainless steel-covered top of each microcapillary is inserted into its own Teflon tube that is connected to the hydraulic pressure control system. The ribbon cables are electrical connections to the electrical pulse control circuitry. Each PSDR uses 4 of these 96-dispenser heads to paulitate simultaneous liquid delivery to 4 NanoWell plates.

Chapter

Figure 6 A single head consisting of a 12×8 format array of 96 piezo-actuated dispensers. The dispensers are oriented vertically with the discharge orifice of the glass microcapillary facing down. The stainless steel-covered top of each microcapillary is inserted into its own Teflon tube that is connected to the hydraulic pressure control system. The ribbon cables are electrical connections to the electrical pulse control circuitry. Each PSDR uses 4 of these 96-dispenser heads to paulitate simultaneous liquid delivery to 4 NanoWell plates.

ABSTRACT

The pressure control system is used to aspirate several microliters of test compound into each dispenser. The master compound plate is then lowered and transported back to the store, and a 3456-well NanoWell plate, in which an assay is being staged, is brought up to the head. Each dispenser is filled with a single compound from a chemical library. A total of 36 wells can be addressed to create a formatted experimental grid in which the compound concentration is varied (by the number of drops delivered) and in which the experimental conditions are covered (e.g., test compound without agonist or modulator). The test compound is then dispensed to one or more of the 36 wells that can be addressed by each dispenser. Each dispenser contains more than enough material to deliver more than 20 nl of test compound to each of the addressable 36 wells. Dispensing is uniform across the 96 dispensers in each head (Fig. 7). The number of drops elicited in each visit of a dispenser tip to a well is controllable. Delivery to each well is reliably varied (Fig. 8).