Product News: PERKINELMER UNVEILS JANUS AUTOMATED WORKSTATION PLATFORM AT LABAUTOMATION 2006

The single JANUS platform includes new features and functionalities to provide laboratories with real-time and future adaptability in throughput, capacity and dynamic volume range to meet their liquid handling automation needs.

JANUS is the cornerstone of PerkinElmer’s Packard Automation and Liquid Handling Portfolio, its next generation of automation and liquid handling instrumentation.  Packard automated liquid handling solutions from PerkinElmer eliminate the challenge of obsolescence for laboratories by providing modular and scalable solutions to meet their needs now and in the future.

“Today’s laboratories are choosing complete, integrated application platforms to increase their flexibility, precision, and accuracy,” said Jonathan Rennert, Vice President and General Manager, Analytical Sciences, for PerkinElmer’s Life and Analytical Sciences division.  “Our new enhanced JANUS platform represents a significant opportunity for PerkinElmer to deliver one comprehensive, scalable platform with extended adaptability and functionality to meet our customers’ needs for complete assay automation.”

The JANUS Automated Workstation platform is comprised of a wide selection of solutions, including three new offerings:

• JANUS MDT Automated Workstation – A 96- or 384- channel workstation offering Modular Dispense Technology (MDT) with interchangeable dispense heads, including the proprietary NanoHead™  enabling assay miniaturization with 384-tip processing down to 50 nL with coefficients of variation better than 13 percent. MDT allows customers to automatically program the selection of numerous dispense heads and formats to provide hands-off, “on the fly” adaptability in dynamic volume range and microplate densities up to 1536 wells. 
• Gripper Integration Platform – A third arm labware movement option, available on most versions of JANUS, provides comprehensive labware movement within the JANUS deck, as well as to external devices, including plate readers and shakers.
• Mini-JANUS Automated Workstation – Offers a single arm option with a smaller nine position deck that includes the unique MDT interchangeable pipetting head system for automated pipetting into 96-, 384-, and 1536-well microplates.

Key end-user advantages of the comprehensive, integrated JANUS platform include:

• Adaptability – JANUS offers the addition and replacement of liquid handling and labware movement functionality as application and throughput demands evolve.  Also, the platform allows for up to three arms for dispensing and labware movement, with full upgradeability to address initial and future requirements. 
• Flexibility – The new JANUS Automated Workstation employs a modular design that delivers real-time and future adaptability in throughput, capacity, and dynamic volume range.  In addition, JANUS provides laboratories with the ability to treat each sample uniquely.
• Precision – JANUS includes 4- and 8-tip pipetting capability plus 96- or 384-tip MDT dispense head options in a single platform for optimal precision pipetting and performance.

For more information on the JANUS Automated Workstation, please visit: www.perkinelmer.com/JANUS.