Touch Screen Enhances a New Microplate Washing System

Incorporation of the latest touch screen technology adds ease of use and flexibility to a microplate washing system.

The BioTek (Winooski, VT, US) 405 Touch microplate washer’s high-resolution, color graphics LED backlit touch screen interface enables intuitive and flexible protocol creation and implementation and instrument maintenance. Two integrated flash drives permit convenient file storage, transfer, and operation. Instructional videos provide clear direction on instrument setup and basic use, and there is a context-sensitive help system complete with recommendations, diagrams, and images.


The 405 Touch instrument incorporates BioTek’s patented “Dual-Action” manifold, which provides independent control of both dispense and aspirate manifolds for precise overfill washing and overflow protection. This unique design washes both 96- and 384-well plates without the need for any hardware changes. With its angled dispense tubes, full control of dispense and aspiration rates, and unique X, Y, Z positioning, the 405 Touch is capable of the most demanding wash protocols.

For washing microsphere-based assays, all 405 Touch models can be equipped with accessory modules for both vacuum filtration and biomagnetic separation. This allows for full plate washing of polystyrene and magnetic beads used in a growing number of multiplex assays and bead-based ELISAs. The 405 Touch’s vacuum filtration feature automates the wash steps of filter bottom plates with five different vacuum levels for optimal performance of filter pore sizes ranging from 0.45 µm to 1.2 µm. The 405 Touch’s biomagnetic separation incorporates a range of immobilization options each with high-energy neodymium-iron-boron magnets for rapid separation of micrometer and nanometer beads with superior retention.

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