Global customer input drove product innovation by Beckman Coulter Life Sciences

INDIANAPOLIS, March 26, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Biopharma scientists, process engineers, and others in labs who work with cells will soon have a new option for monitoring cell growth and viability: the Vi-CELL BLU Cell Viability Analyzer.

As the next generation of Beckman Coulter's widely used Vi-CELL XR viability analyzer—Vi-CELL BLU features numerous enhancements suggested by Vi-CELL XR users around the world:

• Faster analysis and processing time
• Increased sample capacity for higher throughput (now with a 24-position sample carousel and a 96-well plate loader)
• Decreased sample volume requirement (now only 170 µL in FAST mode)
• Better instrument-to-instrument correlation
• Expanded data integrity and compliance features

Vi-CELL XR users also expressed a desire for a new Vi-CELL analyzer that's just as easy to use as its predecessor.

"We've achieved the ease of use our customers' desire and have come to know using Vi-CELL XR," said Lena Lee, product manager, Beckman Coulter Life Sciences.

"Switching out the carousel for the plate loader requires little operator effort, as does reagent kits installation and spent tubes disposal. Our design experts expanded sample carousel capacity and added a plate loader to a 'chassis' that takes up less space. Increased sample capacity on the carousel means more walk away time to focus on important activities in the lab; making the Vi-CELL BLU an even more productive asset to the lab."

"Equally important, Vi-CELL BLU is 50% faster than the Vi-CELL XR for sample to sample analysis in FAST mode."

With augmented data integrity features, including the ability to attribute results to individual operators (e.g., via electronic signatures), Vi-CELL BLU can also help labs maintain compliance with FDA 21 CFR Part 11 and the EU GMP guide requirements for data integrity.

"In addition, we incorporated an on-board PC and touch screen into the Vi-CELL BLU," says Lee, "which eliminates the need for a separate computer and video monitor, saving on bench space."

As with the Vi-CELL XR, the analytical power of Vi-CELL BLU can be magnified via use of the Vi-CELL MetaFLEX bioanalyte analyzer, which measures cell culture parameters such as pH, pCO₂, glucose and lactate.

"It's safe to say that Vi-CELL BLU is vying to become the new state-of-the-art in cell viability analyzers. And I think we're on our way," says Lee.

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Contact: Emily Edeburn,