Waters Otto SPEcialist Positive Pressure Manifold

Waters has introduced the Otto SPEcialist Positive Pressure Manifold, designed to improve the reproducibility of solid-phase extraction (SPE). Equipped with easy-to-use, 21 CFR Part 11 compliant software and programmable pressure profiles, the system is said to provide confidence in SPE results by eliminating common workflow errors, reducing user variability and documenting each method step to remove uncertainty and prevent duplicative efforts. By automating the various pressure applications of SPE, it helps laboratories achieve efficiency and is useful for a variety of pharmaceutical, biopharmaceutical, food and beverage, and environmental applications.

For LC and LC-MS/MS analyses, sample preparation like SPE is a necessary first step best automated to ensure reproducibility, especially when screening or analysing significant numbers of samples and when consistency is important. Controlled with the intuitive, 21 CFR Part 11 compliant-ready Otto Software through an integrated tablet, the system enables the creation, editing, running and sharing of pressure profiles and methods with little to no training.

By utilising positive pressure applied to the top of the device to control flow rather than vacuum processing applied to the bottom, the system offers precise control for easy sample processing. The product provides a wide pressure control range, accommodating a number of SPE device sizes and sorbent masses. It also creates contact with each individual cartridge or well, unlike vacuum processing where all cartridges or wells are connected to a single source.

The semi-automated system — with easy-to-use software and a clean, simple interface — can be quickly deployed without significant capital investment, unlike fully automated SPE systems that are often complicated to set up and run. Users can create pressure profiles for every step of an SPE workflow — including load, wash and elution steps — at the push of a button. New and existing profiles, methods and processing parameters are tracked and documented, allowing for unfettered sharing across multiple days, users, laboratories, assays and Otto devices. This eliminates the variability associated with manual extraction procedures and ensures workflow consistency regardless of operator or environment.