COPAN announced the worldwide launch of WASPLab, a barcode driven and conveyor-connected specimen processing system, which utilizes robotic plate management to automate specimen workflow in microbiology. The unveiling of the system will be in Milan, during the 21st ECCMID General Meeting from May 7 to May 10, 2011, and in New Orleans, Louisiana, during the ASM’s 111th General Meeting from May 21 to May 24, 2011.

WASPLab can manage various aspects of specimen processing and workup including planting and streaking, Gram slide preparation, enrichment broth inoculation, robotic incubation and storage, plate image analysis, AST/ID inoculum preparation, Kirby-Bauer disk application, and even MALDI-TOF Target Plate Seeding.

“We have developed WASPLab with the future of microbiology in mind and an ongoing commitment to provide a solution for an automated single-piece flow system for specimen processing” says Norman Sharples, COPAN Diagnostics’ Executive VP. At a time of diminishing resources where laboratories are pressured to grow business within current space, labour and expense constraints, WASPLab represents a clear solution to automate the tedious tasks of specimen processing and subsequent workup and frees scarce laboratory personnel to perform tasks that require their interpretative skills.

With a reputation for innovation in preanalytics, COPAN is the leading manufacturer of collection and transport systems in the world. COPAN offers a complete line of automation and a range of microbial sampling products used for traditional culture analysis and molecular diagnostic assays.