As technology continues to advance in the forensic science field, one of the questions that comes to mind is how can we do things faster or more efficiently. Robotics were originally designed to assist forensic scientists by freeing them up to perform other work such as data analysis and interpretation. They also have the added benefits of perhaps being less prone to error and improving the speed of the extraction. However, many of the robotic instruments currently in use at laboratories around the country only have a limited capacity with some only processing up to 12 samples at a time. In order to keep up with the ever-increasing demands of the community to process more cases even faster than before, several runs per day need to be performed to keep up with the caseload. This leads to more rapid breakdown of these instruments over time as well as more complex scheduling to fit as many runs per day into one workday. But what if you were able to validate an instrument that could process far more samples at a time or the same number but at a faster rate?
In 2022, the Maxwell RSC 48 instrument was validated as an alternative solution for non-differential extractions as well as differential extractions post-separation. The instrument provides comparable data and processes up to 48 samples in one run which would require four runs on EZ1 instruments. In 2023, the HID Nimbus Presto System was also validated as an alternative solution for the aging Tecan Freedom Evo 150. A large consideration for this decision came from the ability to use the sample extraction chemistry on both instruments as well as maintaining the same throughput (up to 96 samples). Lastly, the instrument run time significantly decreased to less than half of the run time. This presentation will examine the next wave of automation instruments taking forensics to the next level.