A special injection valve makes our Integrity ready for injections into UHPLC systems up to 120 MPa (18,000 PSI).
ILD™ is a new innovative feature on our injection valve for UHPLC. The proprietary design comprises a unique stator-rotor combination with an extra radial relief slit. This configuration enables loop decompression prior to sample aspiration. Ultra-fast valve switching further reduces pressure shocks to a minimum. The result is highly accurate sample injection down to 1 µl and much longer column life time. Combined with the entire range of sample care and sample prep features, INTEGRITY™ adds unsurpassed performance to your UHPLC assays.

FTD™ is an innovative concept for extraction of Dried Blood Spots without punching discs out of the DBS filter card. FTD™ enables automation of the entire workflow for Dried Blood Spot (DBS) analysis by LC-MS/MS. Without any manual intervention! A uniquely designed high pressure clamp connects solvent lines to the center of the spot allowing desorption of the sample from the clamped spot area directly into a (SPE)/LC/MS/MS system.

A DBS autosampler is currently under development. Together with a number of partners we are also exploring the potential and further instrumental requirements of the FTD™ concept.

1D and 2D sample and sample tray identification codes can be read, filed and linked to sample assay results. It is even possible to record an image of the vial during sampling for visual verification of the injection and the sample vial afterwards. Combined with positive feedback motion control for the sample tray positioning, the risk of assigning results to the wrong sample is zero.

A completely new concept for needle wash has been designed for Integrity. A separate built-in solvent pump provides wash solvents to the needle pair and a smart combination of air pressure and solvent streams ensures thorough cleaning of the needle pair, inside and outside, in seconds. And also provided – jet-stream drying of the needles before entering the next sample! Multiple solvents can be selected by the wash pump for maximum clean-up ensuring zero carryover for the stickiest samples. Because the wash pump is much faster than the syringe-dispenser used for the injection, needle rinsing is not only better, but also much faster.

Many biological samples require cooled storage during processing to avoid deterioration. Therefore, many autosamplers offer cooling, but very few autosamplers offer adequate cooling across the entire sample space. Some of our autosamplers not only offer cooling, but also offer sample temperature control from 4°C up to 40°C for the entire sample tray and sample processing space. Actual readout of tray temperature shows when the autosampler is ready to accept new samples. Actual tray temperature can also be linked to sample assay results to verify correct sample temperature afterwards. And, in addition, the cooling device has been designed to reduce condensation in the sample area to a minimum.

Elevated sample temperature improves sample solubility and thus helps to prevent precipitation of poorly soluble analytes and adsorption of analyte to vial walls.

Spark’s double needle technology is quite famous in the proteomics lab, where sample amounts can be scarce and require delicate handling. With UHPLC pressures the tendency to smaller sample amounts is continuous. Spark’s technology with double needles is even more applicable. A special analytical needle sits within the puncturing needle, ensuring small but robust injections are made.

A new injection routine and special valves make the autosamplers ready for injections into UHPLC systems up to 120 MPa (18,000 PSI). Ultra-fast valve switching reduces pressure shocks to a minimum for longer column life time. Combined with excellent micro injection capability, and including the entire range of sample care and sample prep features, our autosamplers add unsurpassed performance to your UHPLC system.

Cooling helps to maintain sample integrity, but when deliberate changes of samples are required prior to injection, heat is our best help. HotCap™ is a piece of capillary tubing that can be heated up to 100°C. When used as sample loop or other positions in the sampling line, samples or sample/reagent mixtures can be heated before injection. Typical applications include pre-column derivatization, protein denaturing to reduce protein-analyte binding, disruption of cells, etc. HotCap™ heats up in seconds, has actual temperature read-out and a hardwired temperature limiter for maximum safety.

This is a unique innovation for HPLC autosamplers. Three separate mini pumps can provide different reagents from external reservoirs to special self-cleaning overflow wells on the sample tray holder. Sample and reagent volumes are picked up and dispensed into destination vials using the sample needle and syringe dispenser. Destination vials are then picked up from the tray by HoMix™ and their contents mixed by a very efficient, tumbling-like movement.

After placing it back into the tray, the mixture is injected using any of the three available injection modes. Mixing variables such as tumbling speed and duration can be programmed. Compared to the syringe aspirate/dispense actions offered by other autosamplers, mixing is much better and faster! Typical applications of this unique feature are internal standard addition, dilution, pre-column derivatization, homogenizing etc. Even in-vial liquid-liquid micro extraction is feasible.

Our favorite way of sample prep is becoming more and more popular! Spark pioneered online sample prep (solid phase extraction, column switching) and introduced online sample prep as an integrated option on an autosampler over 20 years ago. Today, online sample prep using high pressure stream switching is considered the best approach to obtain high assay quality and maximum automation. In addition, online sample prep using valve switching provides a closed sample processing system – another plus for sample integrity.

Accurate automated internal standard addition using a loop injection method. A specified volume of internal standard is loaded in a loop using an integrated mini pump. The internal standard is then added to the sample during desorption of a blood spot using a high pressure dispenser (HPD™).

Accurate spot positioning and sample traceability is vital for accuracy. Our camera has been designed so that it not only provides accurate positioning of DBS cards in the high pressure clamp for direct, flow-through desorption of bloodspots; but also offers sample barcode identification for 1D or 2D barcodes, full or partial spot desorption options and full image capture for sample information storage, tracking and traceability.