About
People
Elizabeth Blackburn Principal Scientist at Invizius Ltd
Mathew Keegan Director of Applications Engineering at Automata
Overall Goal
Scale lab capacity with minimal error
Approach
Combine Automata’s lab automation with Labguru’s data capture to automate as much as possible
Results
- 100% data accuracy
- 200+ hours saved monthly
- $100K+ saved monthly
Elizabeth Blackburn
Principal Scientist at Invizius Ltd
Mathew Keegan
Director of Applications Engineering at Automata
.svg){kind=small}
Invizius is an early-stage, complement therapeutics startup that develops products to treat diseases caused by overactivation of peoples’ immune systems in haemodialysis; extracorporeal treatments and conditions that cause fibrosis . All three conditions are caused by dysregulation of the complement system – the front line defense of your immune system. Founded in 2018, they are focused on reducing inflammation in kidney dialysis patients who have suffered an acute kidney injury (AKI).
Invizius is currently performing The CompAct hemodialysis study on 400+ patients using a mutli-plexed assay. Their goal is to analyze 30 biomarkers to understand the differences between patients' blood and healthy control blood.
To perform the assay, they use complex lab hardware created by Automata, one of our close partners. Thanks to a deep, powerful Labguru X Automata integration, Invizius has developed extensive lab automation – involving automated hardware and software – to power the vast majority of daily activities.
We interviewed Elizabeth Blackburn, Principal Scientist at Invizius Ltd, and Mathew Keegan, Director of Applications Engineering at Automata, to see how lab tech solutions were helping Invizius do more research with a lean team..svg)
Challenges
Invizius’ lab work presented several challenges, made harder by their ambitious goal of completing a full sample journey of three assays and analysis in a single day. To achieve this goal, efficiency, and speed are an essential part of their work.
With their lab running at full speed (using Labguru and Automata), Invizius processes 7 patient sample sets (6 time points for each patient) each day, thus research on 400+ samples takes several months. Because of this, it’s critical that their entire lab process is controlled and consistent so that the methods, controls, and data of the samples in January are the same as in June.
“Things like water purity and temperature sound like small practical details, but they can wreck your dataset with 400 patients”
Each set of assays costs $10K, meaning that any human error or mistake comes at a significant financial and time cost. This created the need to reduce risk of human error as much as possible in their lab activities, whether it be in data input, lab setup, or identification of problematic samples.
Solution
Together with Automata, Invizius has built a complex, robust automation workflow to power efficient, consistent, mistake-free research at Invizius.
Labguru x Automata - Taking Automation to New Heights
Before each multiplex assay, Automata collects and validates all the required data from Labguru’s ELN. By combining this data with a pre-programmed Labguru protocol, the combined technology can create accurate plate maps and run the entire experiment automatically.
Following the experiment, the results are assembled into files and uploaded into Labguru. The experiment is marked ‘complete’, stocks are labeled ‘consumed’, and a downstream process of dataset assembly and analysis is completed. Errors and anomalies are flagged to researchers for further analysis. Labguru can capture lot and key reagent parameters as well as calibration and performance data for instruments for every set of data collected.
With most of the experiment automated and minimal human input, Invizius has experienced a leap in productivity together with improved experiment quality and data annotation that is required for good quality assurance and control.
Advanced Inventory Management Capabilities
Labguru’s sophisticated Inventory Management system has improved several aspects of Invizius’ research. Before Labguru, researchers would spend 15 minutes every morning making sure they have the right samples in the right places. With Labguru’s simple, straightforward barcode-printing system, Invizius has “fantastic stock control” and everything is exactly where it needs to be.
"With a single click, our researchers can make sure they have all the stuff they need for their experiment"
This sample tracking also helps Invizius reduce human error. Samples arriving from the hospital are already labeled but would require a human to upload it to their previous system. With Labguru, samples are uploaded automatically to the database, and can then be tracked through different experiments. With a few clicks, researchers can compare different patients’ data, as well as different samples or different experiments from the same patient.
Identifying Trends
With a few clicks, Invizius can pool together data from different experiments into a single dataset. This proves useful for identifying trends or unexpected results. When they identify anything out of the ordinary, they can immediately access the linked experiment to perform deeper analysis.
“In the past, we’d spend hours rummaging through lever arch files to find the relevant data”
For senior scientists and project managers taking an overview, datasets are a game changer. They can analyze a single patient’s different samples in one place, filtering and analyzing data as they please.
For example, water purity is tracked and automatically populated into the dataset, so any variation that might influence results can be easily identified. “It sounds like small practical things but they can wreck your dataset with 400 patients”.
A Word From Automata
“You have an incredible API - it’s really well documented and maintained"
.svg)
Automata has worked with many lab data solutions in the past where the information is inaccessible and proves difficult to get hold of, so they are thrilled to be working with Labguru’s “powerful and flexible API”.
Their developers love the way the system is structured. “It’s easy to navigate and find your way through, which makes it easy to build robust code for it”.
When Invizius started working with Automata, the fact that they already had a data acquisition and storage system in place made it easier for Automata to onboard.
“Automata come into so many labs where they have all the automation in the world but absolutely no way of capturing it, that’s where Labguru is a game changer”
Results
After two years with Labguru, the results speak for themselves. Labguru saves Invizius a number of days each week. “This isn’t hyperbole, but a testament to the power of the technology available” said Elizabeth. With deep automation, runs that took at least 45 minutes to prepare and set up can be ready-to-go in a few minutes.
“In total, we must be talking hundreds of hours saved monthly, as well as hundreds of thousands of pounds”
The fact that they don’t have people manually transferring data into instruments, and from instruments to systems, has significantly reduced human errors. And with bead kits costing thousands of pounds per experiment, this error reduction has hugely positive financial implications.
“By taking the human out of this loop with a direct Automata-Labguru connection, we can also confirm 100% data accuracy too”
Thanks to the direct connection mentioned, there is an absolute path of data integrity all the way through the experiment, giving Elizabeth peace of mind that data doesn’t need to be re-checked and experiments repeated.
Another area the Labguru x Automation partnership excels in is providing consistency across the board. Whether it’s hand washing or an instrument washing the equipment, pipetting, temperature, or data storage and retrieval, Invizius can be confident that methods are being performed identically in year two as they were on day one.
“Over an entire research phase or trial, the level of consistency from every aspect increases”
In a recent experiment examining 9 biomarkers in a multiplex assay, their %CV was < 6% on every plate – and the robot didn’t have a bad day pipetting or washing plates. In this case, the reproducibility of the automated robot added a lot of validity to the experiment.
“When each experiment costs $10K, consistency gives you peace of mind that your results are valid”
An Eye to the Future
Looking forward, Invizius hopes the modular nature of Automata’s software will allow them to expand their work above and beyond the 3 automated assays they currently perform.
Labguru will be crucial to achieving this by helping involve staff at all levels in planning and creating workable, practical solutions. No matter how smart the automation, a simple human error can derail entire experiments, underscoring the further importance of Labguru to ensure everyone is on the same page.
