A fuzzy quality control-decision support system for improving operational reliability of liquid transfer operations in laboratory automation

Quality control in liquid transfer operations can eliminate false assay results due to transfer failures, monitor the stability of laboratory equipment, provide baselines for continuous improvement, and enable automatic recovery actions for a number of fault conditions. This paper describes the work done to add real-time quality control capability in liquid transfer operations on a closed-loop controlled MEMS based liquid transfer device. Real-time data acquisition enables the interpretation of system variables. Using fuzzy logic as a decision support tool, an overall quality metric and failure mode is deduced from these variables for each channel per operation. Detection of ordinary fault conditions like clogged tips or unexpected empty source wells can activate automatic recovery actions without human intervention, leading to 24/7 utilization of an automated laboratory system. Exported quality data can be used for bio-informatics data analysis as well as documentation for regulatory agencies. 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.