The Laboratory Robotics Interest Group of New Jersey
Topical Group of the North Jersey
American Chemical Society
September 1996 Meeting Joint with the General Interest, Organic Chemistry, and Teacher
Affiliates Groups
Date: Monday, September 30, 1996
Itinerary: Social Hour and Poster Session- 5:00 PM
Dinner - 6:30 PM
Presentation - 7:15 PM
Place: Seton Hall University, South Orange, NJ
First Speaker: Steven F. Schnittger
Research and Development, Estee Lauder Companies, Melville, NY
“The Use of Robotics in a Cosmetic Microbiology Laboratory”
The preservative challenge test is a method used to determine the efficacy of a
preservative system in a cosmetic formulation. This method of testing is a labor
intensive, repetitive task which utilizes many man hours. Product testing entails a large
volume of samples which are analyzed repeatedly under the same conditions and protocol.
For this reason, an Automated Robotic System was developed to perform this testing and to
free the cosmetic microbiologist to perform more meaningful and creative tasks. Two
hundred and fourteen different formulations totaling 1039 samples were evaluated comparing
the automated robotic system to the manual plate count method of testing. The samples were
comprised of make-ups, shampoos, conditioners, oil in water emulsions, mascaras and
powders. The selection of micro-organisms tested are similar to those recommended by the
CTFA Guideline for the Preservation Testing of Eye Area Products. The results showed that
there was a greater than 98% correlation in results when comparing the Automated Plating
System to the Manual Method of Testing. It has also been determined that the robot can
save between 2-3 man hours per day. The “un-attended sample preparation” of the
robot allows for testing to continue beyond the normal work day of the lab. By programming
the robot to run 24 hours per day, the microbiologists and or the technician is able to
perform other functions in the lab. It also allows for an increase in the workload of the
lab, and improves the throughput of the lab, without additional personnel.
Second Speaker: Richard Von Culin
Analytical Research and Development, Bristol-Myers Squibb PRI, New Brunswick, NJ
“Evolution of a Rugged Automated Dissolution System with High Sample Throughput”
Automated dissolution testing has become a pharmaceutical industry standard with companies
restructuring and trying to do more with less. Automated dissolution has been very
successful for the robotics laboratory in Analytical R&D - New Brunswick. An on-line
UV spectrophotometry robot has processed approximately 35,000 samples since 1989 and has
accomplished uninterrupted dissolution runs lasting more than fifty hours. The evolution
of a highly productive and rugged on-line dissolution system can be summarized in three
main developmental stages: system flexibility, system reliability, and efficient data
management. System flexibility was obtained by programming the robot to run multiple
dissolution methods. The system can run capsules, tablets, different sample potencies, and
different flow cell sizes during a single dissolution run. The system has proven to be
very reliable over the past six years. The only service performed routinely is
preventative maintenance so the system rarely fails to complete a dissolution run.
Finally, to further increase sample throughput, data management functions were automated.
Custom software was written to electronically input all sample information into the System
V controller and to lead the final dissolution results into the stability database. The
evolution of this on-line UV dissolution robot into a rugged and productive system is
presented.
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