INTEGRA Biosciences is known worldwide for developing and manufacturing high-quality liquid handling instruments that are used regularly in routine microbiology testing laboratories.

From automated workflows to simple and precise pipettes, INTEGRA's smart, user-friendly designs can bear much of the burden that a high-volume laboratory can bring to a microbiologist's workday.

INTEGRA's DOSE IT is one of these laboratory workhorses - a peristaltic pump - that is often first choice for culture media and buffer preparations.

Its pump-head accommodates different tubing sizes (1 to 8 mm inner diameter), allowing the user to dispense a wide range of liquids from several milliliters to several liters with accuracy and precision.

The dispensing speed can be modified by adjusting the flow rate via its easy-to-use programmable interface to eliminate any splashing or unwanted turbulence. Gerald Posch, Product Specialist at INTEGRA Biosciences, explains:

"The DOSE IT has a 'CUSTOMIZE' mode that enables easy and efficient creation of personalized liquid handling protocols. For instance, you may be dispensing liquid that can foam up quickly, so a gradual change in speed is required, for which a 'RAMP' setting can be applied. It also has the facility to store up to 20 application protocols that can be recalled at anytime"

Even with all these features and capabilities, the DOSE IT is small and lightweight, intended to be carried from one lab to another, and can even fit inside a laminar flow hood. It saves on bench space and cost as you wouldn't need to have one for each lab. With all this moving about, you would be inclined to worry about contamination, but the device is specifically designed to prevent this from happening.

"No part of the pump comes in contact with the sample, like what can happen with other products on the market. The sample is kept within the sterile silicone tubing provided, and therefore the DOSE IT is well-suited for the transfer of sterile samples. It's being used in various sectors, for food, water and environmental testing, and also some small-scale pharmaceutical filling," explained Gerald.

Fig 1. Result of coliform MPN test in drinking water samples.

A typical application of DOSE IT is the Most Probable Number (MPN) or McCrady's multi-tube method. These techniques estimate the number of viable cells of a particular microorganism in a food or water sample; surprisingly still performed in laboratories more than a century after the method's invention.

"We find many of our customers ask us if the DOSE IT is suitable for MPN tests, so we wrote this new application note which includes a protocol for labs to follow when programming the DOSE-IT for MPN tests. We have many Chinese laboratories interested in this product for that application," said Gerald.

Fig 2. A programmable interface allows users to store up to 20 protocols. 

The interface's large display and clear user guidance support fast set-up and use. The DOSE-IT also offers a hands-free option, whereby the user can operate the pump using the optional benchtop or foot switch.

Read the new application note  Rapid and Precise Dilutions for the Most Probable Number test procedure with DOSE IT and learn more about the DOSE IT: Laboratory Peristaltic Pump from INTEGRA Biosciences.

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