Cell analysis solutions company Cytek Biosciences unveiled its new Cytek Orion reagent cocktail preparation system, which simplifies and accelerates laboratory workflow, provides consistent experimental results, saves time, and reduces the potential for errors. 

The Cytek Orion system is a small, easy-to-operate, fully automated reagent cocktail preparation instrument designed for flow cytometry, which eliminates the need for lab technicians to manually prepare multicolor antibody cocktails for flow cytometry. With the Cytek Orion system, users can mix and manage reagent cocktail combinations of up to 60 individual reagent antibody conjugates.

Further reading: Cytek Biosciences, Bio-Rad Partner to Expand Reagent Portfolios

The Cytek Orion workflow is designed to fit seamlessly with the Cytek ecosystem of complete solutions—including its cloud-based platform, analyzers, sorter, reagents, and software, the company says. It is instrument agnostic, enabling it to be used with other systems as well.

Key features include:

  • Accommodates antibody-conjugate tubes with volumes of 0.5 mL to 2.0 mL per tube
  • Up to 60 individual reagents can be added per cocktail
  • Aspirator can add 4 uL to 200 uL of reagent to cocktail at the proper volume and concentration
  • SpectroPrep software stores information regarding reagents in a library for future use and can provide an audit trail
  • Users can mix up to three different reagent cocktails per run
  • Users can create cocktail recipes and save for reuse, or use pre-programmed recipes for Cytek kits and assays

Other benefits include:

  • Hands-on time savings in the lab due to walk away automation
  • Reduces costs due to potential human errors in cocktail preparation
  • Decrease in repetitive motion injuries when preparing high-color assays

“While other solutions enable everything from washing to staining and more, the Cytek Orion system is unique in that it is focused solely on cocktail making for sample preparation,” says Wenbin Jiang, PhD, CEO of Cytek Biosciences. “This singular focus gives the Cytek Orion reagent cocktail preparation system a smaller footprint and makes it ideal for applications such as drug discovery that will use the same cocktail multiple times. It also ensures that users are only paying for features that they need – at a cost of approximately half that of competitive solutions. The introduction of this unique new preparation device moves the Cytek roadmap forward, expands our suite of solutions for the cell analysis market and is expected to broaden our reach into new markets.”

Featured image: The Cytek Orion reagent cocktail preparation system. Photo: Cytek Biosciences