The iPipet App Improves a Boring Lab Task

Aug-02-14 The iPipet app runs on an iPad to help make the monotonous task of pipetting more efficient and less at risk of errors.

Pipetting is an important laboratory task that requires a person to transfer precise amounts of liquid to different well plates within trays. Because the task is so repetitive, it is easy to make a mistake and move a sample to the wrong location—thus skewing the results. And although robotic pipetting systems are available, they are expensive and complicated to set up.

To help simplify the process, a team from the Whitehead Institute created the iPipet app. The app works with an iPad to first allow lab techs to create a spreadsheet of their task. That information is then uploaded to the iPipet website, which generates a grid display with an arrangement of glowing dots to guide users to the correct destination well plates. Users can also download a file to 3D print an adapter for the tablet screen that will keep the well plates and grids aligned.

More Info about this Invention:

[GIZMAG.COM]
[WI.MIT.EDU]

---