Lab-made open-source controlled robotic workstation for sorbent-based dispersive microextraction of low-volume samples

Abstract

Background

Despite microextraction techniques have gained prominence over traditional extraction ones, they usually involve repetitive and tedious manual procedures. Full or partial automation could help alleviate this drawback. Even though commercial systems are available to automate sample preparation, they are very expensive and not affordable for a high number of laboratories.

Results

With the aim of contributing to automation on sample preparation, and more specifically, on microextraction techniques, a lab-made open-source robotic workstation is presented. It allows to carry out sorbent-based dispersive microextraction in low-volume samples in a semiautomated way. The robotic system is made from low-cost hardware electronic gadgets conveniently assembled in a 3D-printed casing, and it is controlled by the open-source Arduino software. To demonstrate the potential of the developed robotic workstation, it was employed for the determination of three long-chain acylcarnitines in serum of newborns by flow injection analysis-tandem mass spectrometry (FIA-MS/MS). The method was validated in terms of sensitivity, precision and accuracy and it was successfully applied to the analysis of samples from 5 newborns.

Significance

The presented robotic workstation is the first non-commercial one dedicated to sorbent-based dispersive microextraction. It is in line with the trends on sample preparation field focused on the development of automated procedures due to their huge advantages over manual procedures. Moreover, the use of open-source and low-cost elements alleviates the high cost of commercially-available systems, which are not affordable for all laboratories.