Practical Pharmaceutical Laboratory Automation

Book excerpt: Laboratory automation is an increasingly important part of the job description of many laboratory scientists. Although many laboratory scientists understand the methods and principles involved in automation, most lack the necessary engineering and programming skills needed to successfully automate or interface equipment in the lab. A step-by-step, how-to reference and guide, Practical Pharmaceutical Laboratory Automation explores the processes needed to automate the majority of tasks required in research today. The author discusses topics ranging from automated mathematical analysis to robotic automation of chemical processes, to combinations of these and other processes. He presents a detailed discussion of high throughput screening and assay development and takes an in-depth look at Visual Basic as the primary programming language used in laboratories. The text has a dedicated web site (http://www.pharmalabauto.com) that contains all the sample code and examples contained within the text as well as other information related to laboratory automation. Providing a starting point for tackling automation problems, Practical Pharmaceutical Laboratory Automation helps you develop a strategy for automation that gets consistent results.