Dear Flowers,
I realized I missed two of the responses in my previous post. Here is the
complete summary:
1.
We are a very busy multiuser flow cytometry core facility. We have had our
AutoMACS for about 1 year now and are absolutely delighted. We use it to
sort about 2-3 times each day. To say the least it has taken a lot of
pressure off of the sorting flow cytometers. Before AutoMACS we had a
SuperMACS system. I have found the AutoMACS to be extremely easy to use
and the results have been just as good if not better than the SuperMACS. I
can teach someone how to use the device in about 10 minutes compared to
more than 1 hour for the SuperMACS. As a core we supply all the needed
reagents. Also, we keep the unit in a hood to keep the cells sterile.
In the last year we have had one small problem with a valve leaking.
Miltenyi sent us a replacement AutoMACS the next day, they repaired our
unit and sent it back to us. We lost no experiments. Other then this 1
incident, there have been no other maintenance issues.
I too would be interested in documenting usage in some sort of fool proof
way. Right now we have to rely on the researchers to put their name in a
scheduling book and I am sure we lose some people along the way. Does some
one make a device that would turn the electricity on to the AutoMACS only
after they enter an electronic code?
2.
Fantastic instrument, easier and much faster than standard MACS.
Maintenance is simple.
3.
This is a very simple instrument to use as you will see on Jan 10th. It is
a touch pad LCD display. The user simply turns the machine on, does a
clean operation and then is ready to separate cells. You only have to learn
3 or 4 push buttons......very simple.
Maintenance is mainly a decontamination program (bleach) every month,
column exchange every 2 weeks and maintaining the buffers. The column
exchange takes just a couple minutes. I will show you during the demo. The
most important thing for usage among multiple users is to do a clean
program between separations. However, the machine will not let you do a
separation without a clean program. There are a couple different clean
programs varying in how stringent they are, depending on what you are
doing. They range from roughly 2 to 7 minutes each. Many customers keep
a log of usage right next to the unit.
Much of this will be very clear after seeing the machine.
4.
The autoMACS is VERY easy and very FAST to use (as compared to the manual
multiMACS...no slow-flow columns). So far we had no maintenance problems;
at the end of the day we do the routine cleaning/shut-down procedure and
that's it. We do have multiple users (usually not in the same day) and
here is how we do it:
* the instrument is in a dedicated biological safety cabinet (hood) so
staining, separation etc. is done at the same place
* we share the columns (install and keep them for ~1 month...keep a
log, alternate who supplies them. The columns are good for ~100
separations otherwise they rust ~1 month, ~$60/column)
* I make and QC the solutions (easy, cheap)
* everyone has their "favorite" separation protocol and their own
antibodies-beads (human, simian, murine)
* we all compare results (most of our separations are for DC, pDC
subsets, T-cell subsets)
* we are still friends but sometimes I have to "growl" (cleaning the
hood)
* I am responsible for maintenance...(it is ours)
* the technical support at Miltenyi (Jacquelyn) is very knowledgeable
and helpful (regarding specific applications...the use of the instrument is
very easy)
5.
we've had the AutoMacs on trial for a couple of months and our lives became
so much easier! It's fast, clean, and it only takes a few minutes to learn.
Additionally, the Miltenyi folks (at least here in Italy) are extremely
helpful and responsive, so it's a real pleasure to deal with them.
Replacements are sent within 24 hours, and they offer very knowledgeable
technical support.
We find that the results (i.e. purity of sorted populations, recovery) are
better with the AutoMacs than with the standard columns, and we get our
cells faster!
We kept the instrument under the hood, and all stainings were performed
with sterile reagents. We never got any contamination.
We are buying it!
6.
As far as I know, there is no mean to keep track of usage except by a
pencil and a paper. AutoMACS is a great instrument for rapid and huge
amount of cells to be sorted. However it never gives the purity that gives
a cell sorter. We use it to pre-enriched very rare cell populations (CD34+
cells from normal blood). It is very efficient in that task. For me the
maintenance is not yet very efficient, Milteniy must do many progress.
Thanks once again for all the people who helped on this topic!
Donghui Cheng
Iowa State University
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