The BioArc Ultra maintains sample integrity by keeping innocent (“unpicked/unselected”) samples at storage temperature throughout the picking process.
Other quality assurance features include:
- Minimized thermal disruption: BioArc Ultra employs patented tile wall storage, maximizing reliability and sample temperature stability while eliminating the risk of ice formation. Retrieving samples opens less than 1% of the wall surface area, preventing unnecessary temperature cycling for innocent samples.
- Robotic picking modules: Can perform picking at either -80°C — or for higher throughput — at -20°C. Picking operations are performed outside the sample storage space and separated by an insulated tile wall, so all samples are securely stored at -80°C.
- Sample stabilization: Using a staged storage loader, samples are placed in an input area to stabilize temperature without affecting nearby cold samples. During reformatting or output, operations outside the storage are time-limited to prevent sample warm-up, with prompt return to storage for temperature stabilization, ensuring integrity and minimizing variations.
- Moisture extraction: At extremely low temperatures where moisture instantly turns to ice, the system utilizes a unique Snow Catcher, enabling machines to operate continuously without the need for defrosting procedures that consume cooling power and additional energy.
- Redundancy: With two refrigeration units per bank, the setup ensures redundancy in the event of a unit failure.
- Monitoring: Both temperature and unit alarms are monitored continuously — with 24/7 call center monitoring available.