MURRIETA, Calif., June 17 /PRNewswire/ — Copan unveiled new
groundbreaking features of its Walk-Away Specimen Processor (WASP)
while attending the 110th General Meeting for the American
Society for Microbiology (ASM) in San
Diego, California this past May. Copan’s line of automation
was introduced to the market in 2008 with the launch of the WASP, a
revolutionary system for automatic planting and streaking of all
microbiology samples. While attending the 110th ASM meeting, Copan
unveiled truly revolutionary new features of its automation line,
such as automatic gram slide preparation, ability to place two
different patient samples on one plate, inoculation and labeling of
enrichments broths, and higher throughput capability with the Dual
Streaker.
Depending on the type of specimen, specimen processing of
bacteriology samples consists of three different steps: (a)
planting and streaking of the sample; (b) gram slide preparation
for doing gram stains; and (c) inoculation of enrichment broths for
sub-culturing. All three steps are important routine tasks that
need to be done properly to ensure a reliable and accurate
diagnosis, but are also very manual and require a lot of the
technologists’ time and effort. Until recently, in the field of
automated specimen processing for bacteriology samples, processing
had been defined and limited to planting and streaking. Automating
planting and streaking was a much needed solution in a time of
increasing workloads and diminishing resources. However, planting
and streaking instruments currently in the market solved only one
step of specimen processing.
Reducing repetitive stress injuries was one of the main factors
sparking interest in automation in the front end of Microbiology.
“After launching the WASP, Copan was constantly asked about the
other
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