Flex Your Power with the SeqStudio Flex Genetic Analyzer for Human Identification

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Hello, and welcome to Flex Your Power with the Seek Studio Flex Genetic Analy

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zer for

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Human Identification, brought to you by Forensic and sponsored by Thermo Fisher

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Scientific.

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My name is Michelle Taylor, Editor-in-Chief of Forensic, and I will be your

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moderator

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throughout.

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For today's webinar, you can earn one hour of continuing education credit.

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Following the conclusion of the webinar, you will receive an email with

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information on

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how to obtain CE Credit Documentation.

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We have a great lineup scheduled to present to you today, but before we begin,

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I'd like

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to take just a moment to cover a few logistics.

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At the end of the presentations, we will hold a question and answer session.

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To ask a question, click on the "Ask a Question" tab in the upper right corner

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of your screen.

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Please also take note that the right side of the screen features an overview of

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today's

0:45

webinar, as well as more information about our speakers.

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If you have a technical question during today's event, click on the "Test your

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Connection"

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button at the bottom of your screen.

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From there, you can access additional webinar support.

0:57

Please note that we will also have a few polling questions for you in between

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the presentation.

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We also invite you to use the social media widgets beneath the webinar to share

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with

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your friends and colleagues.

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Today, you will join three forensic experts from the Sacramento County District

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Attorney's

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Crime Lab as they experience a new applied biosystems, SEEC Studio, FlexGenetic

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Analyzer

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for the first time.

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Nick Andrews, Product Manager at Thermofisher Scientific will lead the big

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reveal.

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Nick was a practicing forensic scientist in the UK before moving to the US in

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2015 to

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advance his career in human identification at Thermofisher Scientific.

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Nick went from supporting customers as a field application scientist to

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applying his customer-centric

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focus to product management, making sure the challenging work of a forensic

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scientist

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is easy, informative, and innovative.

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When Nick is not working on the future of HIV, he can be found making fun,

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informative

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and YouTube videos to make forensic scientists life just that much more fun.

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Aquabecriminalists successfully complete the first run on the HIV version of

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the SEEC Studio

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Flex, Jill Muelling, Senior Technical Application Specialist at Thermofisher

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Scientific will

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join us for a short technical presentation, reviewing the product's features

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and some

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validation data.

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Jill started her forensic career at a US government laboratory, first as a

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technician,

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and then as a criminalist in the DNA database unit for a total of eight years.

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She then spent five with a research organization working on the Cancer Genome

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Atlas Project.

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Jill joined Thermofisher Scientific in 2016 as a North America field

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application scientist,

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covering the Western states for two years before moving over to HIV technical

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support

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in 2018.

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Jill has spent the last three years in the Forensic Science Applications Group,

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providing

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subject matter expertise during new product development and escalation support

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for global

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HIV field teams.

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Thank you for joining us for today's webinar, and please keep your eyes open

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for an invitation

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to our next one in November.

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Now, without further ado, I'll hand it over to Nick to get us started.

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I'm Nick Andrews, Product Manager at Thermofisher Scientific, part of the Human

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Identification

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team, or HID as it's known.

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Today, we're here in sunny Pleasanton, California, the home of the HID Research

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and Development

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team.

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We have something super exciting to share with you today.

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We are ready to unveil the latest and greatest genetic analyzer, the Seek

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Studio Flex.

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Now you may know that the Seek Studio Flex has been available for the research

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community,

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but we're ready for forensic prime time.

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So today, we have three forensic experts from the Sacramento County Crime Lab

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who are

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here to put it through its paces.

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They'll get to see all the greatest features, like the foreplay deck with

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continuous plate

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loading, sample re-prioritization, the integrated data collection software, and

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the remote monitoring

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and remote troubleshooting features.

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I know this instrument is going to blow them away, and it's going to blow you

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away too.

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So let's go meet the team.

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I cannot wait to see what they think.

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My name is Ryan Nickel, and I work for the Sacramento County Crime Lab.

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I'm a criminalist there, and I'm also a crime scene lead at the laboratory.

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I'm Natalie Jones.

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I also work at the Sacramento County Crime Lab as a criminalist, and I'm also

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the local

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codist administrator.

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I'm Danielle Frost.

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I'm also a criminalist at the Sacramento County Crime Lab, and I'm in training.

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Thank you so much for introducing yourselves, and thank you very much for

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coming in.

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This is great.

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You all seem to have a lot of different experiences, so this is going to be a

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really exciting time.

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Just to confirm, you're all forensic scientists, none of you are paid actors.

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No, I'm an actor.

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So what do you actually know about the Seek Studio Flex?

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It's been out for the research community for a while, so have you heard

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anything about

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it?

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Nothing.

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Only the name, which I saw in the email that we got.

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CE Instrument.

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Yep, that's right.

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It's our brand new latest and greatest genetic analyzer that we have.

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It got released for our research community a while ago, and now we're ready to

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unveil

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it for the HID market.

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So we want you guys to be the first look at this instrument.

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So we're the first forensic scientist to this.

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You're going to be the first forensic scientist in the world to touch this

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instrument.

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Wow.

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That's exciting.

5:23

This is going to be exciting.

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It's cool.

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It's going to be great.

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So if you had a new CE Instrument for your lab, what would you want it to do?

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Would there be anything you'd be looking for?

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I would probably something along the lines of if one plate is running, if you

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could actually

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load a plate on while the other plate is running would be great.

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That would be a big help in our laboratory, for sure.

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Yeah, glad you say that.

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I think it would be nice to be able to load more than two plates.

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Or maybe six.

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That way we can get everyone at the lab working on at the same time and just

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turn the instrument

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on and let it go.

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I would love for the software to be really user friendly and to be able to

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easily load

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on your plate and press buttons.

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That's smart.

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Say go.

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And you mentioned that you were currently in training.

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So how has it been learning how to use CE in the application of forensic DNA?

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It's been challenging just learning memorizing the steps.

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There's so many steps that come with the CE in managing the software.

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So it's a question of where do I look for this button.

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It's kind of hidden away in this corner.

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That's been difficult.

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Right.

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Yes.

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I know for my time in the lab.

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You all have 3,500s in your lab, correct?

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Yes.

6:49

Yeah.

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What's using about the 3,500 or how has it helped you?

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I like the anode and cathode buffer that it's just you don't have to load it or

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make any

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mixture.

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It comes in a pre-made box.

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You can throw that right on.

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I also like the, you know, it scans the polymer for us and tells us how many

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injections.

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So that's nice.

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I like that we have our lab uses 24 capillaries.

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So we can get through a lot of samples pretty quick.

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Yeah.

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We use USBs.

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We have to go into the run room, load it onto the USB, take it back to our desk

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, load it

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into the software.

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So I hadn't thought about that, but that would be nice if we could like remote

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into

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that computer from our desk, pull our data, put it right into the software.

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I would love that.

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Yeah.

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I'm sure actually other analysts that are, you know, we're allowed to work from

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home

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a couple days a week, would actually like to remote in, get their data and

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actually

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analyze data from home.

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So if you need some re-injections, you don't have to worry about re-plating

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when you come

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in the next day.

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Yes.

7:49

Yes.

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Can this instrument tell us at our desk that something's wrong?

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We can pop in there and fix it.

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Well, I don't want to give too much away, but it might have some of these

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speeches that

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you've been looking for.

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I like it.

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I'm pretty happy that you brought these up, but I think maybe we should

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probably get

8:06

in there and actually see this instrument.

8:08

All right.

8:09

Let's see it.

8:10

Cool.

8:11

Let's do it.

8:12

Okay.

8:19

Oh, Ryan, Natalie, Danielle, Eager Beaver.

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I would very much like to introduce to you the new six new blocks.

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Wow.

8:43

Very sleek.

8:44

Yes.

8:45

Ooh.

8:46

That is cool.

8:47

No, can I have that?

8:49

Yeah.

8:50

How can we touch it?

8:52

Go ahead.

8:53

I had my phone.

8:54

Now you can get in there.

8:55

It looks very similar back there.

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Yeah.

8:59

Can we take a closer look?

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Please.

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I'm assuming touch screen.

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I want to know how many plates.

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Can I touch the screen?

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Can we open it?

9:07

Yeah.

9:08

Boo.

9:09

Four plates, guys.

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Four.

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Let's see.

9:12

The door is unlocked.

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Go ahead.

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To, oh, they're not there.

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They're there.

9:18

Yep.

9:19

That's fun.

9:20

Oh.

9:21

So you can load while it's running.

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Yes.

9:24

Wow.

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Continuous plate loading.

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Sample re-prioritization.

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So you can load a plate.

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It could be injecting.

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You could then load another plate.

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You could say my injection is more important.

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You could put that to the top of the list and it will take that plate.

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You could have four plates in there.

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When one plate is finished, you could open that drawer, take it off.

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And there's a new spot open again.

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You could maybe wait until the end of the day, load four plates at once and it

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can just

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run all night and then you can come back into data in the morning.

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I know one of your concerns might have been about, well, what happens if there

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's an injection

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failure or something like that?

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But this also has a remote monitoring.

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So you can get alerts at your computer.

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You can get them on your phone.

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You can even do re-injections from your phone with this instrument.

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So if you are working remotely, you can do that.

10:07

Yes.

10:08

And for those of you who may be using 3130 back in the day, or you had the

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bottom, you can get the barn doors.

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This instrument has the same type from there.

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Very cool.

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Easy to get in there.

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Obviously your oven door.

10:20

You may not be able to newly designed array as well.

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So it's actually easier to install than even the 3500.

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I love that.

10:28

It looks easier too.

10:29

You can kind of see just where the little buttons are there.

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Pop in out.

10:33

Exactly.

10:34

So can I open the drawer right now to the instrument?

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Yeah.

10:37

As long as that screen says the drawer is unlocked, you can open that drawer at

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any

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point.

10:41

Go ahead.

10:44

My question was, is there like an arm that kind of grabs those plates and takes

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it up

10:48

to be analyzed?

10:49

That's exactly right.

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So the arm will pick up the plate and move it up to where the capillaries are

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so you

10:55

can actually do the injection itself.

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So that drawer is unlocked at any point during the run so you can load plates.

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The only time it would be locked is when an injection is in place.

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Just for safety reasons, you've got high voltage running through there.

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But otherwise you can load plates on there.

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That screen will also tell you when you have plates that are present on there

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so you can

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see what is linked and you know if there's available space on it.

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And do this plates set in or do they clip in?

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They just sit on top of there.

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So as long as you put them in that plate cradle, then they just sit in there

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and they wait

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for the arm to come and pick them up.

11:27

Very cool.

11:28

What about the runtime?

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It's actually about the same as the 3500.

11:32

So it's kind of around the same time that you had before.

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A couple of other features while we have the drawer open, there's also an

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integrated barcode

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scanner in there.

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So if you use barcoded plates, it can read that so that you actually know what

11:43

you're

11:43

linking and you can verify it.

11:45

As before, you just have to make sure that you put the plate in the right place

11:49

This time you don't.

11:50

I see two USB ports right there.

11:53

Is that to like bring in our data and it automatically kind of populates into

11:57

the screen

11:58

there?

11:59

So we knew that there's obviously a lot of different options that you can have

12:01

when you

12:01

want to transfer data.

12:03

This instrument does have cloud connectivity and local area network as well.

12:07

So you can network the instrument on your local area network in the lab.

12:12

You can set up your plates from your office and you can have those plates

12:15

loaded directly

12:16

onto the instrument through a piece of software called plate manager, which we

12:19

'll show you

12:19

in a bit.

12:20

And then you could also do a USB so you can put it into like your standard CSV

12:24

or text

12:24

file, load it onto the instrument or you could do it through the cloud.

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So you could use plate manager on the cloud, set up your plate and it will

12:32

remotely send

12:33

that plate to the instrument itself.

12:36

That's cool.

12:37

A bunch of different options.

12:39

One thing I did want to do is introduce you to two of our R&D scientists who've

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been working

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really hard on the validation of this instrument.

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They are going to help us set up a run and get the instrument going and teach

12:49

you how

12:49

to use the instrument thoroughly.

12:51

So what do you say we go meet them?

12:53

Yeah.

12:54

All right.

12:55

Hi everybody.

12:56

My name is Dan Sunil.

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I'm a staff scientist and summer fisher.

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I've been working on this project for over one year.

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So today I'm going to show you how to use the plate manager.

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That's software used for creating your files for running the samples on six UDF

13:15

lex.

13:16

So we have two different versions.

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So one version is on the cloud.

13:22

Another version is on the desktop.

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So this is the version on cloud.

13:28

So you can create your file from the scratch by clicking on the sky here or you

13:35

can open

13:36

a file which has been saved on cloud or from your computer.

13:42

Or if you want to use a recently used file, you can click on this one.

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You can check to see whether it's correct or not.

13:52

Everything is correct so you can send this to the machine directly.

13:58

You can choose multiple instruments at the same time and click on OK.

14:03

So then this file would be sent to your instruments.

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Or you can just choose one of them.

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So like today, I'm going to just send this one to this instrument.

14:14

So after you see it, you just click on OK.

14:18

So now the file is on your instrument.

14:21

You're ready to run your sample on the instrument.

14:26

And also, I'm going to show you how to create a file using the plate manager.

14:35

I will be using the desktop version today.

14:39

So I'm going to show you how to create a plate file from the scratch.

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So to do that, just click on this one here.

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Then you get all of these things by default.

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You can change your name here.

14:54

You can change the name of the file.

14:56

Or you can just use the default file name.

15:00

If you say OK, all the parameters here are correct.

15:05

So you click on Next.

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Then you can click on the carbon.

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You want to put your samples in.

15:14

Then you can come here.

15:17

From here, you choose the injection protocol.

15:22

So today, I'm going to show you how to choose this one.

15:26

That's for the J6 die.

15:30

So after you click on that, see all the other parameters, you know, show up

15:36

here.

15:37

After that, you click on here.

15:39

So then you can put the name of the files in there.

15:44

So what I do, I just, you know, I have prepared everything.

15:49

So I just copy the thing here and then paste it to the software.

15:59

Sample name, I click on this one and contove it.

16:02

So then the file names are pasty here.

16:05

And also, you can put the panel names here.

16:12

So these are the panel names.

16:14

All of them here, I use a global file, IQC panel.

16:20

So click on the software here.

16:25

So then you get to this panel.

16:30

OK, so you click on the first one, you click on Contove here.

16:36

So the file, these are the panel names.

16:40

And then I put the catalynx here.

16:43

Highlight everything here and then Contove C.

16:52

And put it into the first custom fields.

17:00

Then Contove.

17:01

OK, after that, you go here.

17:06

You save it and then it's saved.

17:12

After you saved, you can put send it to the instrument.

17:16

Or you can export it into your USB drive.

17:22

So I can export it to either my computer or USB drive.

17:26

So save.

17:29

Now, it's saved in this USB drive.

17:33

And then I'm ready to use it.

17:37

Is the computer attached or connected to the instrument at all?

17:42

Yeah, so these computer is connected to the instrument

17:47

through Wi-Fi.

17:48

Gotcha.

17:49

Nice.

17:50

And at our lab, we use an Excel program.

17:53

Our sample names and information.

17:57

So we would be able to export that in a CSV file

18:01

and then load it into the software rather than manually

18:04

setting up our plate.

18:06

Yeah, so you can do that.

18:07

So basically, after you set up the plate,

18:10

use the plane manager.

18:11

Or you have a CSV file installed in the--

18:16

on your computer or USB drive.

18:19

So instead of a computer, can you use your phone to do this?

18:24

Yeah, you can use your smartphone.

18:27

Do the same thing.

18:29

You can monitor your rung.

18:31

And also, you can unlink or link your plate.

18:34

If you found that after you go home,

18:36

or if you are somewhere else far, far away,

18:40

if you just thought, oh, I made a mistake.

18:44

So you can make the revision of your protocol using your cell

18:50

phone or your computer remotely.

18:52

Nice.

18:53

That's really cool.

18:54

A good feature.

18:55

Yeah.

18:55

Oh, now the plate is in the same location.

18:59

Right.

18:59

You don't even need to come here to unlink the plate.

19:03

You can just use that with your--

19:05

Or set my injection before his.

19:07

[LAUGHTER]

19:08

Right.

19:09

OK.

19:10

I also really loved that each injection was a different color.

19:13

That was very pleasing to the eye.

19:15

Yeah, exactly.

19:15

And I knew too.

19:18

So if there's somebody at your lab that always thinks their case

19:22

is the most important and wants to jump in front of everybody

19:26

all the time, is there a way to prevent plates

19:30

from getting bumped to the front?

19:32

I think that would be a very good feature.

19:34

But all these things should be tracked in the SAE feature.

19:40

So we could know who jumped in front of my run.

19:43

Got it.

19:43

Exactly.

19:44

[MUSIC PLAYING]

19:47

Hi, my name is Jimmy Lee.

19:52

I am a staff engineer at Thermo Fisher.

19:54

I will be showing you the 6-3 of Flex.

19:56

So this is their new instrument.

19:58

So I'll have Ryan come and play with the instrument,

20:00

if you want to.

20:01

Sure.

20:02

All right.

20:03

So if you want to load, I know Leonton helps you set up a plate.

20:07

So here, I'm going to hand you that plate.

20:09

You can open the drawer.

20:10

So there's positions A, B, C, and D.

20:16

Already two have been filled.

20:17

So you can put it in C or D.

20:18

OK.

20:19

I'm going to go with D.

20:21

Oh, I already--

20:22

Oh, Zuzi.

20:22

--flight it in.

20:24

There you go.

20:25

It will lock once you close it.

20:26

But now you can link your plate, which has already

20:28

been loaded on by Leonton.

20:29

So click Link Plate.

20:31

Yep.

20:32

Go to My Instrument.

20:35

And it's right there at a demo 8 cap.

20:37

OK.

20:40

And then you can check all of the properties.

20:42

So you click on Application.

20:46

Click on Application.

20:47

Oh, there it is.

20:47

OK.

20:48

So you're already on HID 96 will plate.

20:51

36 centimeter pop 4.

20:52

Click Done.

20:54

Go to Plate Screen.

20:57

And here we're going to do an injection from column 2.

21:00

OK.

21:00

Yeah.

21:00

If you want to see what it is, you can go and highlight it.

21:04

And those are your parameters.

21:06

And you can click on the pencil button.

21:09

And then you can scroll and see all the configurations.

21:13

Nice.

21:13

Side-standard.

21:14

OK.

21:15

For the most part, you have your J6 sample in there.

21:18

Yep.

21:18

You click Done.

21:20

And when you're ready to run, click Start.

21:22

Start Run.

21:23

Yeah.

21:23

Is there a way to check the names of the samples that are in there?

21:27

Go back to that pencil.

21:29

You can go to a sample name.

21:30

Click on multiple.

21:32

And here is where you can enter all of your names in.

21:34

Oh, gotcha.

21:34

And it's already pre-named in here.

21:36

Right.

21:37

There's the A.

21:37

And you go to Sample Type.

21:39

And change the--

21:40

You can go there.

21:41

And then he's the first one to a little glatter.

21:44

The rest are sample.

21:44

Gotcha.

21:45

OK.

21:46

Cool.

21:46

Yeah.

21:47

And then--

21:47

And then--

21:48

Start.

21:48

Start Run.

21:49

There you go.

21:49

Right on.

21:50

Go do some free checks to make sure

21:52

the consumables are not expired.

21:53

And it'll give you an estimated end time.

21:57

And there it goes.

21:58

Nice.

21:59

That starts up really fast.

22:00

Yeah, it did.

22:01

Did it have to preheat?

22:03

So if you did impreheat your oven,

22:05

then it will have to preheat.

22:05

You can actually do that before you run.

22:07

If you hit that speedometer symbol on the top.

22:09

Yep.

22:10

If you scroll to the left, there's a pre-oven option.

22:16

But it's already heating up right now.

22:17

So it's disabled.

22:19

OK.

22:19

So you don't have to worry about that.

22:20

But you see the oven temperature is already at 31 degrees.

22:23

So--

22:23

Do you guys recommend preheating?

22:25

Or is it not necessary?

22:26

If it's already warmed up, it'll run faster.

22:29

How long to preheat?

22:30

Maybe like 10 minutes before you start your run.

22:32

Yeah.

22:32

I like that the things you can't select are grayed out

22:36

and things you can are blue.

22:38

So you can also turn on the LED to highlight

22:40

some of the instrument stuff.

22:41

So--

22:43

There.

22:43

Turn on some of the consumables.

22:45

Yeah.

22:46

Since it's running, you can't really open a door.

22:47

But there's that CBC buffer right there.

22:50

It's going with the polymer pouch and then the ABC buffer.

22:54

Same array.

22:54

It's slightly different from the 3500,

22:56

but similar format here.

22:58

So this is the 24 cap array.

23:01

OK.

23:01

So you open the oven.

23:02

You just easily install it and you want it to.

23:05

OK.

23:05

Did you change anything on the consumables as far as like--

23:09

they can only be on the instrument for two weeks?

23:11

Yeah.

23:11

So if you go back to the right on the screen,

23:14

it shows you all of your status of the consumables.

23:16

So the capillary, how many injections

23:19

has left, the polymer, and the installation date

23:22

and the expiration date, as well as your buffer.

23:25

And here's your spatial calibration, your remaining

23:28

injections, and then all the calibrations that

23:30

were done for your die sets that you can run.

23:32

And then on this side, you should see

23:34

some of the maintenance stuff that needs to be done.

23:37

Some of them you might need a software update from time

23:39

or time, but it'll tell you when you need to do all your maintenance.

23:42

OK.

23:43

And like the wizards for that stuff.

23:46

Yeah.

23:47

Good.

23:47

Yeah.

23:47

You want to go to that, to X out of that?

23:49

Sure.

23:51

Click on action.

23:53

Click on maintenance.

23:56

Yep.

23:56

And then maintenance wizards.

23:59

So here you have a list of anything

24:00

you want to do for maintenance.

24:01

You can change your array, change your polymer type,

24:04

change your buffer, change your polymer.

24:06

And each of them have a video embedded,

24:08

so you can actually watch some of them for a little bit.

24:11

So now, like I showed you before,

24:14

you can actually run multiple plates at a time.

24:16

So click home.

24:19

So now it's unlocked, so you can open it up.

24:21

OK.

24:22

You put that in position C. All right.

24:28

Oh, lock again, but now you can link a plate.

24:31

So create a new plate file.

24:34

And here, you can name your plate.

24:37

So just click click name.

24:38

Yep.

24:40

Type whatever you-- today's date.

24:42

OK.

24:44

Play 2.

24:45

All right, enter.

24:47

Go to application type.

24:49

Like that.

24:51

Change it from sequencing to HID.

24:54

Yeah?

24:54

Done.

24:55

Yeah, done.

24:56

Go to your plate.

24:58

And then you can click on the pencil button.

25:01

Click on injection protocol one time.

25:05

Yeah.

25:05

And then you can pick which die set you want to run.

25:08

OK.

25:10

And then you can change any of the--

25:12

so this injection protocol pre-populates these fields

25:14

for you.

25:15

If you want to do any of the custom ones,

25:16

you can change them here.

25:19

So done.

25:20

Done.

25:21

And start.

25:21

Start.

25:23

So will it run in the order that you set it?

25:27

So this will run after the first one is done.

25:30

If you wanted to change it--

25:31

since it's already started, you can't do that.

25:33

But you go to run queue, you'll see the order of things

25:36

that will be done.

25:37

So I can take plate 2 and go--

25:40

Right.

25:40

Right.

25:41

--top of the list.

25:42

Right.

25:42

So these ones are completed.

25:44

So plate D is running.

25:46

So your plate C is going to run afterwards.

25:48

So it's in queue.

25:51

And it'll show you the estimated start at end time.

25:53

OK.

25:54

So you have to remember where you loaded it.

25:57

Exactly.

25:57

OK.

25:58

Nope.

25:59

So you can click close.

26:02

And since these are already done,

26:03

you can actually look at some of the data on there.

26:05

So you click on the screen.

26:07

Click real sample list.

26:10

So that's what we ran.

26:11

This is just the installation run.

26:12

So you click done.

26:14

Click on action.

26:15

So you can either unlink.

26:19

But if you want to look at the data,

26:21

click on the green icon.

26:23

And that's what was run on that plate.

26:25

So you can use the screen to scroll through,

26:28

expand that blue bar if you want to.

26:31

That's cool.

26:34

No.

26:35

Click on any of those--

26:37

the bullet point buttons.

26:39

And then you can select dies that you want to see.

26:41

Oh.

26:42

I have been.

26:44

Yep.

26:44

So you just turned off blue.

26:46

Oh, I'm turning off.

26:47

Yep.

26:47

Good.

26:48

Yep. So now you're just looking at the size standard orange.

26:53

There you go.

26:54

And then when you want to bring the samples back in,

26:56

just click on the color again.

27:00

And on the right side, there's another option

27:04

where you can zoom in and--

27:08

Oh, there you go.

27:09

Mm.

27:12

And then the middle button is the EPT.

27:15

So it shows you the record of all of your run.

27:19

It's the oven temperature, your current, your voltage

27:23

throughout your entire run.

27:24

So same thing, same touch face, touch me in the face.

27:28

And then when you're done with that, stick done.

27:31

Good done.

27:33

I like that black background.

27:34

It's so much easier to see the colors than the white.

27:37

Yeah.

27:38

So let's say you want to run another plate.

27:40

These all are filled.

27:41

You can unlink a plate by just pressing B.

27:43

Do you want to try it?

27:44

OK.

27:45

Sure.

27:46

Unlink the plate.

27:47

It's going to confirm that you want to do that.

27:50

So now you can open the drawer.

27:51

Right.

27:52

Remove the plate.

27:54

And if you have another one ready to go, you can pop it.

27:56

Oh, and it shows that it's removed.

27:58

It will sense the plate right over there.

28:00

Yep.

28:00

So I'll take that.

28:01

OK.

28:02

So now you can leave it there, load another plate, or--

28:06

Awesome.

28:07

I have it on standby.

28:08

Yep.

28:08

Very cool.

28:10

I noticed this is your computer now.

28:12

You're not hooked up to a computer.

28:13

So currently, we--

28:17

to do like a reboot of the system every two weeks,

28:19

we'll shut down, shut down, restart, restart.

28:21

So you don't need to do that for these?

28:23

Yeah.

28:23

If you want to restart for any reason,

28:25

you can just power off when no place are on there,

28:27

not running, and power back on.

28:29

Is that something recommended, or can we just leave it on?

28:31

You can leave it on.

28:32

Yeah.

28:33

No reason I would need to turn it off, though.

28:36

Nice.

28:36

Nice.

28:37

Yeah, yeah.

28:38

We talked a little bit earlier about having the computer

28:41

and the instrument hooked up to Wi-Fi,

28:43

and being able to control it from your phone and everything.

28:46

Forensic labs are always concerned about security.

28:49

So I wanted to ask about that.

28:50

Right.

28:50

So these instruments can be controlled with SAE.

28:53

So it's the security audit and the e-signature functions.

28:56

So if you have it on the network,

28:58

if anyone logs in, they have to have their own account login.

29:01

If they want to start a run, they

29:03

have to have permission to sign off.

29:05

If you don't want to have it on a network,

29:06

you can have a local computer attached to the instrument.

29:09

And it's also controlled by SAE.

29:11

Wi-Fi free, just local area, just within house.

29:15

So no internet needed.

29:16

Yeah.

29:17

And then as soon as this run is done,

29:19

we can access it on the computer, any computer,

29:23

with a Wi-Fi on our phone.

29:26

Yeah, you can do remote access.

29:28

I do have it on my phone.

29:29

It can monitor run, and I can show it at as well.

29:32

[MUSIC PLAYING]

29:34

So for my remote monitoring app, you can do remote monitoring

29:41

your run.

29:42

So here it has a run that's already completed.

29:44

Click on your raw plot.

29:46

And now, Ryan, you can scroll the data on the phone,

29:49

just like you would on the flex.

29:53

You can see all the peaks.

29:55

And you can click on different capillaries on top.

29:59

And then you can feel it's bright color.

30:02

And then just--

30:03

On the back.

30:04

Still.

30:05

Yeah.

30:06

Apply.

30:07

There you go.

30:07

That's always your size standard.

30:09

Yeah.

30:11

Scroll and go to all the capillaries.

30:15

And it will save your preference on color.

30:16

All right.

30:20

Nice.

30:21

There you go.

30:22

So what's coming off the instrument is being directly

30:26

screened to your phone.

30:27

Exactly.

30:28

Yep.

30:29

Like it.

30:29

Thank you.

30:30

[MUSIC PLAYING]

30:33

[CHEERING]

30:35

[MUSIC PLAYING]

30:37

[CHEERING]

30:38

[MUSIC PLAYING]

30:41

So we'll have a look at the seats to be a flex a bit.

30:43

I know we talked about how the consumables are the same,

30:47

except from the array.

30:48

So I just wanted to show you really quickly

30:49

how you can change the array in that sort of process.

30:52

But you could open it up these big barn doors.

30:56

And then if you want to open up the array,

30:58

that means we'll get you to do it.

30:59

Just show you how easy it is.

31:01

Open the array door.

31:02

Unscrew the detection cell.

31:07

Loosen the cap bundle.

31:12

Here you go.

31:13

And then loosen the bottom door.

31:17

It's down here.

31:20

There you go.

31:20

And you can slide that out slightly.

31:23

And then you can just use this little handle here

31:29

and just pull that out of there.

31:32

And it will hold it in place.

31:35

Let's remove it.

31:38

Great.

31:39

Where am I?

31:39

So the very nice thing about these new arrays

31:41

are they have--

31:44

to make it easier to do it one-handed, they lock in place.

31:47

So you can hold it to it and you can install the array one-handed.

31:50

So it'll stay like this when you want to load it back

31:52

into the instrument.

31:53

Just slide it in place like that.

31:58

And then you can release it.

32:01

Feed it into the bottom.

32:02

The detection window is automatically there.

32:04

It's in the right place.

32:05

The instrument knows where it is.

32:07

So you can just tighten everything back up again.

32:09

Close the doors.

32:10

Tighten your football.

32:17

The feral at the end.

32:18

And that's it.

32:19

That's changing the array.

32:20

Easy, easy.

32:20

Wow.

32:21

Very easy.

32:23

The nice thing about this instrument, the very cool thing

32:26

is, when you change your array, what do you normally

32:28

have to do after that?

32:30

You run a spectral and a spatial.

32:32

Right.

32:32

So you run the spatial because that's

32:34

how the instrument knows where each of the capillaries are.

32:37

You run the spectral because that's

32:38

teaching the instrument the die set

32:39

that you're going to be using for that.

32:41

And to make sure it's applied to this new array.

32:45

The nice thing about this instrument,

32:46

you only need to run that spectral once.

32:49

That's crazy.

32:51

Throughout the entire life of the instrument.

32:53

Correct.

32:53

The instrument will remember the spectral you have run.

32:56

As long as you're running the same die set for that chemistry,

32:59

it will continue to apply that every time you change the array.

33:03

That's really cool.

33:04

It's incredible.

33:05

Yeah. That's amazing.

33:06

I'll get them remembers it.

33:07

It makes sure your data is still there.

33:09

The only time you will ever need to run the spectral

33:11

is if you change die sets.

33:12

So a different type of chemistry.

33:14

Or you are troubleshooting.

33:16

Wow.

33:17

So it can save you a lot of time running this instrument.

33:22

Especially it's one of those things.

33:23

It's like, I feel like we do it, but not enough to really learn it well.

33:28

Every time you do it.

33:29

So we never have to learn it again.

33:32

Exactly.

33:32

Break out the manual every time.

33:35

Every single time.

33:36

And the other thing.

33:37

So obviously, a lot of these things on the instrument,

33:39

you don't have to do that often.

33:40

So what we do have on this instrument as well

33:42

is to help you is called the learning center.

33:45

So if you go to Actions and then Learning Center,

33:50

from here, you have helpful videos that you can run

33:54

that will walk you through when you need to do

33:57

different steps on the instrument.

33:59

So if you want us to learn about how to set up a run on the instrument.

34:02

And it will take you through all the steps you need to

34:14

on how to run and set up a run.

34:16

Wow.

34:17

That's cool.

34:19

For me, I learned a lot better with videos, too.

34:21

Like, hey, here's how you do this.

34:22

Instead of reading something that makes it a lot,

34:26

a lot more difficult to be like, oh, take the plate and put it here,

34:29

do this.

34:29

It's like, oh, video shows you exactly how to do it.

34:32

So now we have everything for a visual, kinesthetic,

34:35

learners, no matter what you do.

34:37

Yep.

34:37

This is really great for new analysts also.

34:41

New analysts, maybe analysts who haven't run the CE in a while,

34:44

you're just coming back into the lab.

34:47

It's just making it so that it's easy.

34:48

It's approachable, and you just know what you're doing.

34:50

Yeah.

34:51

Yeah.

34:51

So you can always feel confident when you run the CE in Studio Flex.

34:56

So back to the old school almost.

34:59

Barn doors feels nice.

35:01

But I also like the familiarity with it, too.

35:04

It has this-- you haven't changed everything inside.

35:08

We don't have to learn an entirely new instrument.

35:10

It's just almost like an upgrade to the instruments

35:14

with a whole bunch of cool features.

35:16

[MUSIC PLAYING]

35:20

All right, guys.

35:24

We've had a really exciting day and an action-packed day

35:27

learning all about the CE in Studio Flex.

35:29

I really just want to know what you guys think about it.

35:30

It's awesome.

35:32

I think that design is really sleek.

35:34

It's user-friendly.

35:36

You can take your data on the go.

35:39

Yes, I love the onboard computer,

35:42

so you don't have to restart and link these two separate things.

35:46

And that you can remote in and from home or from your desk,

35:50

monitor your run, set re-injections,

35:53

put your plate before your coworkers.

35:56

Exactly.

35:57

Yeah.

35:57

And I even heard you ask some really important questions

35:59

about data security and stuff while you were there.

36:01

I mean, that is something that we know

36:03

is a huge challenge for forensic labs.

36:06

The world is moving connectivity and cloud-based things.

36:08

And that's why at Thermofisher, we

36:09

have a group that is dedicated to testing vulnerabilities

36:14

on our software and our cloud-based systems.

36:16

And we have teams that are actually there helping you

36:18

so you can bring online and work with your IT groups

36:21

within your lab to figure out what is possible to do

36:24

within your lab.

36:25

Because what we're finding is there's a lot of stuff

36:27

that we can actually do and still be very secure.

36:29

The old-school methods of actually using USBs

36:32

is not the secure method anymore.

36:33

It's actually having connectivity with encryptions

36:36

and secure passwords.

36:38

So it's going to be really exciting for the future.

36:40

And this instrument is definitely going to take us there.

36:43

I also like the footprint of this instrument.

36:46

For something that can hold four plates

36:48

and kind of run all of these things,

36:49

it's about almost the same size as the 3500.

36:53

So it's taken up a nice small amount of space.

36:57

As long as it's deep enough at your lab,

36:59

you can get a couple of these, I think.

37:02

And you don't need that control computer, either,

37:05

if you don't need to.

37:05

So there's a special bench real estate here.

37:08

A lot less.

37:09

Yeah.

37:10

And being able to put another plate in the queue,

37:12

while one is running, that feature I absolutely love.

37:15

I've spent a lot of time waiting for my co-workers

37:18

to finish up their run before I can even

37:20

start propping my plate.

37:22

And how do you think that this would benefit you

37:24

in your lab?

37:24

New instruments or kind of new technology

37:27

comes out once every five years or so, I feel like.

37:29

And this is just kind of taking us to that next step

37:32

of the fact that it has the Wi-Fi capability

37:36

or the cloud-based capability.

37:37

It just kind of has that feel of, hey,

37:40

we are getting into that next generation of instrumentation.

37:45

So I like it.

37:47

It's staying current with everybody else's phones

37:52

and computers and what we're used to instead

37:55

of running on some old instruments.

37:57

Exactly.

37:58

And if your lab is not ready for that,

38:00

you can also do it the standard way as well.

38:01

So it's very versatile in that sense.

38:04

But it's going to be ready for the future when we're there.

38:07

Yeah, the fact that you still have the USB, people

38:09

like to get in their steps still.

38:11

So it's like, hey, you don't have to use your phone.

38:13

Go and get those steps and walk to the instrument again.

38:17

Take it off and take it back to your desk.

38:20

And what do you think about the onboard learning center?

38:23

Yeah, do you think that will help you in the lab?

38:24

I do.

38:26

Because I know sometimes when you have to put new polymer on

38:30

and you haven't had to do that in eight months,

38:32

I have to pull out that manual and figure out

38:35

how to reload my polymer or something.

38:37

So now I can just play, see how to do it, pop it on,

38:40

and I don't have to worry about it.

38:41

Yeah, the fact that you can actually pause the video too

38:44

and do that while you're doing it.

38:48

The doors are separate from the computer screen.

38:50

So you can just pause it, do that, OK, click play

38:54

and continue on.

38:55

It's nice.

38:56

And watching the video of it happening in real time

38:59

is a lot easier than having to read through the wizard

39:02

like we do now.

39:03

So that's really nice.

39:04

And what about the startup sequence?

39:06

Do you guys think about that?

39:08

I think it's great because currently, like I said,

39:11

earlier with the computer next to your instrument,

39:15

you have to turn this off, turn this off, turn this on,

39:18

turn this on, wait for a green light, open your software.

39:21

So now it's just one button, turn the instrument on,

39:24

and you're ready to go.

39:25

And what do you think about the array?

39:27

This was absolutely amazing.

39:28

So can I--

39:29

Yeah, please.

39:30

So you literally just squeeze that and it releases.

39:36

That's really cool.

39:37

Exactly.

39:38

That was something I didn't know that I needed.

39:39

Yeah.

39:40

Exactly.

39:41

No more fumbling around with the detection cell window,

39:43

trying to get that in place with the magnets

39:45

and then making sure it's just right.

39:47

Not breaking it?

39:49

Not breaking the array.

39:50

That's key as well.

39:52

But yeah.

39:53

Yeah, I was always worried.

39:54

I'm like, ah, capillary needs to be changed.

39:57

I'm like, maybe I'll just pretend I didn't see it

39:59

on the instrument.

40:00

Someone else will change it because it's like this thing.

40:02

It was like, you know, kind of all over the place.

40:04

So it's nice that it's everything's kind of in place.

40:07

You know, a couple clicks, a couple knobs to turn

40:10

and it's in and ready to go.

40:12

Yeah, you can do it one-handed.

40:15

No more three hands and tape kneaded.

40:18

I know we've had an action-packed day.

40:20

It has been super exciting from our side.

40:21

Then we're Fisher Scientific has loved having you here.

40:24

So thank you so much for taking the time.

40:26

It has been great.

40:26

I really hope you got a lot out of it.

40:28

And I can't wait until the next video.

40:30

Thanks so much for having us.

40:31

This is wonderful.

40:32

I had a blast.

40:33

You were the first accredited forensic scientist

40:36

to do a run on the HID version of the Seac Studio Flex.

40:41

This is great.

40:41

Thank you guys so much.

40:42

Thank you.

40:43

Thank you.

40:43

[MUSIC PLAYING]

40:46

Hi.

40:56

Good morning.

40:57

Good afternoon.

40:58

Good evening.

40:59

I'm Jill Muelling, senior technical application specialist

41:02

with Thermo Fisher Scientific.

41:05

Today we're going to review some of the features you saw

41:08

in the unveiling video and go through some validation data.

41:12

So let's get started.

41:14

The first thing we're going to talk about is usability.

41:17

Let's take a minute and recap some of the new features

41:20

the Flex offers that increase usability.

41:23

One of those is the user interface,

41:26

which has the same design as our other newer applied biosystem

41:30

instruments, making it intuitive and easy to use.

41:34

Advancements with the Flex include a run queue screen

41:37

that allows users to reorder injections

41:40

and prioritize newly loaded samples.

41:43

On this screen, I'm showing a plate in position A.

41:46

So plates could be loaded in positions B, C, and D

41:49

in the plate drawer, as long as the instrument is not

41:52

actively injecting.

41:54

Any injections on those plates can then

41:56

be reordered by moving injections up and down in the queue.

42:00

Similar to the 3,500, you can also

42:02

decide to re-inject samples with either the same injection

42:05

parameters or different parameters,

42:08

say if you wanted to change the injection time.

42:12

On the next screen here, you'll see

42:14

one of the new support screens that we have enabled

42:16

on the seek studio Flex.

42:19

SmartHelp allows users to connect with our technical support

42:22

and instrument services team by email or voice message

42:25

and easily select the option to include any instrument log

42:29

files.

42:30

These features do require a thorough Fisher Connect

42:32

account to be enabled.

42:34

The instrument also has a remote support function

42:38

that only requires an internet connection

42:41

if you need to troubleshoot quickly,

42:42

within an engineer, or tech support

42:45

so the representative can remote into the instrument computer

42:48

and see what the user is seeing.

42:50

Another powerful improvement is that on instrument data

42:53

can now be analyzed from anywhere

42:55

using the remote monitoring software

42:58

through Thermo Fisher Connect.

43:00

Here I'm showing an allelic ladder from Global Filer Express,

43:03

along with its associated sample quality flags

43:06

and sizing quality for the entire injection.

43:09

When sizing quality flags are present,

43:12

a reinjection can be set up remotely,

43:14

or the run can be paused until you

43:16

are able to get in front of the instrument to troubleshoot.

43:18

When we look at the features of the Flex

43:21

and then combine it with the new features available in GMAP

43:24

or IDX version 1.7, the analysis time

43:27

can be reduced even further.

43:29

Some of the GMAP or IDX features include the option

43:33

to add a text block directly to the Electrophirogram

43:36

for second review without printing

43:39

and easier ways to view Stutter and Marker specific thresholds.

43:43

On this Electrophirogram, the Stutter peaks

43:45

that are filtered are shown here in gray.

43:48

Marker specific thresholds are seen on the right side

43:51

of any of the marker headers.

43:53

In this example, a Marker specific threshold of 500 RFUs

43:57

was applied to DYS 391.

44:00

Pullup detection is a new algorithm

44:02

that can either delete or label

44:04

a identified pullup as an artifact

44:07

that isn't removed by the auto spectral calibration.

44:10

All right, so here's what that means in GMAP or IDX.

44:13

You can see the analytical threshold

44:15

and Stutter visualization are both plot settings

44:19

that can be turned on and off simply

44:21

by going to those checkboxes.

44:24

The pullup ratio is in the analysis method

44:27

and is applied to the data.

44:29

Our validation specifically used the default values shown here

44:34

and looked at labeling or deleting pullup

44:36

that was less than 5% and that was offset

44:39

from the parent peak by no more than two data points.

44:42

Manual pullup can be a bit more subjective

44:45

and could expand out past half a base pair.

44:48

So a lab would really want to optimize

44:50

and validate these settings as part of their workflow.

44:53

All right, let's now get into resolution.

44:56

With any new CE system,

44:58

you want to be confident that you're getting the same

45:01

one base pair resolution, precision,

45:04

inaccuracy that you're used to.

45:06

So let's take a look at the data quality that you expect.

45:10

First, I want to go through how we develop

45:13

our minimum thresholds for developmental validation.

45:17

We look at data on a per instrument basis

45:20

and then holistically get a sense of how the instruments

45:23

will perform in the field.

45:25

Negative template controls from each of our chemistries are amped

45:28

and run under standard recommendations.

45:31

For this validation, we analyzed with GMAP or IDX

45:34

version 1.7 at one RFU.

45:37

We manually review the data for any spikes

45:40

or other known artifacts and then determine the average RFU

45:44

and standard deviation for each Dye channel.

45:47

The average RFU plus three standard deviations

45:51

is the LOD or limit of detection.

45:53

The average RFU plus 10 standard deviations

45:56

is our LOQ or limit of quantification.

46:00

We expect nearly any background noise to fall below

46:03

this value.

46:05

For certain studies such as pull up and mixture analysis,

46:08

we will utilize the minimum threshold values,

46:10

which are rounded up to the closest factor of five

46:14

from the limit of quantification value.

46:18

For other studies such as sensitivity,

46:20

we will use the eight times limit of detection number

46:23

as the peak analytical threshold.

46:25

So what that looks like is here,

46:29

if we compare the 3500 data collection for minimum values

46:33

that we use in our developmental validation,

46:36

this is one eight flex and one 24 flex.

46:39

And you can see the values are all very similar

46:42

across the two platforms, which is what we would expect.

46:46

For each of the chemistries we looked at during validation,

46:49

we used five total seek studio flex instruments,

46:53

two eight cap and three 24 cap instruments.

46:56

Minimum thresholds were calculated for each instrument

46:59

and then averaged across for analysis

47:02

with GMAP or IDX 1.7.

47:05

Looking at all the chemistries across the flex validation,

47:08

our newer chemistries have minimum thresholds

47:10

all around 50 RFUs or lower,

47:13

while our legacy kits with older dies

47:15

have slightly higher noise and minimum thresholds.

47:18

If we take a closer look at the negative controls

47:21

that were run with global fliler IQC,

47:23

this is for one seek studio eight flex

47:26

and one seek studio 24 flex.

47:29

And don't forget in this particular kit with global

47:31

fliler IQC we have the internal quality markers

47:34

that help with analysis of amplification data.

47:37

So we have a small and a large to determine degradation

47:40

in inhibition and we look at those,

47:43

the data, the noise is all really well below 25 RFUs.

47:47

So low signal to noise ratio.

47:49

All right, so we also want to make sure

47:50

that we are getting similar peak heights.

47:53

In this particular instance,

47:55

we independently amplified and ran 10 single source samples

47:58

with global fliler IQC.

48:01

These are actually 10 different samples.

48:04

So they're not exactly the same

48:06

that were run on a 3500 and the flex,

48:09

but overall these normalized heterozygous peak heights

48:12

show that the data is consistent across the two platforms.

48:17

Another thing to keep in mind with peak heights,

48:19

we introduced off-scale recovery with 3500 data collection four

48:24

and we include it with the flex as a default

48:26

for all sample types on the seek studio flex.

48:30

Single source samples are directly amplified

48:33

and do not become saturated with the homozygous allele call.

48:36

I added text box here for the homozygous locide

48:39

that were near legacy saturation of 32,000.

48:43

Three of the loci here are above the threshold

48:46

but are not saturated with off-scale recovery enabled,

48:49

which allows for minimal off-scale calls

48:51

and increased first-past success rate of these samples.

48:55

All right, another thing we want to make sure

48:57

is that we're getting the same one base pair resolution

49:00

that you expect with our CE systems.

49:03

Here's the global filer IQC ladder

49:05

and I've highlighted here any of the one base pair

49:09

resolved peaks that are in that ladder.

49:11

So those are all shown here.

49:13

We also use the NIST standard 2391D

49:18

for one base pair resolution looking in mixtures.

49:21

For the three chemistries that are shown here,

49:24

we injected this standard 14 times

49:26

on both an 8-cap and 24-cap.

49:29

All injections were able to resolve the minor peak.

49:33

We did use GMEP or IDX 1.7 for this

49:35

and analyzed with all filters turned off.

49:38

All right, just a closer look at some additional mixtures.

49:41

We have here our positive control 007 and 9947A

49:46

as a one to seven mixture,

49:48

and all the genotypes were concordant across the two samples.

49:53

For this particular sample,

49:54

default marker-specific stutter thresholds were used

49:57

and pull-up detection was enabled in GMEP or IDX.

50:01

Okay, with this one, we are also using 9947A and 007,

50:05

but in this case, we're trying to mimic a sexual assault sample

50:09

and can clearly see that the Y profile has come through

50:12

strongly with Y-filer plus.

50:15

And then just to make sure, we ran a similar mixture

50:19

of two males on the 3,500 and the flex.

50:23

So here first is the 3,500 data and then the flex data.

50:27

So you can really see that data quality peak heights

50:30

and balance of the peaks are all very similar

50:33

on the two platforms.

50:35

And then finally, when it comes to resolution,

50:37

we have a three-person 111 mixture with global phyler IQC.

50:43

And again, you can see here that each of the three samples

50:47

is shown here and easy to distinguish.

50:51

All right, so now let's talk about some of the features

50:54

that make the flex faster for your laboratory.

50:57

So the seek studio flex enhances the pull-up reduction feature

51:01

that was introduced with data collection,

51:03

3,500 data collection for.

51:05

An initial manual spectral calibration has to be done

51:09

with the first use of any die set and polymer combination.

51:13

Subsequent injections will determine if the sample quality

51:16

within a capillary meets specific quality criteria.

51:20

If it does, the spectral calibration for that capillary

51:23

will be updated for the current sample.

51:26

This is an iterative process so that with each injection,

51:30

the spectral calibration is updating from the previous.

51:33

Even when a new capillary array is installed,

51:36

a spectral calibration is no longer required

51:39

because the last good spectral calibration

51:41

will be stored and applied.

51:44

In the sample highlighted, the quality has a green flag.

51:48

And if we want to take a closer look,

51:50

we can click on the eye icon

51:52

and see the spectral status of that particular sample.

51:56

Here you can see that the auto spectral calibration

51:59

for this sample was successful and applied.

52:02

If the auto spectral calibration is not successful,

52:05

the status will report the previous passing calibration data

52:09

that was applied to the sample.

52:11

We took a look at both auto spectral enabled on

52:15

and auto spectral off.

52:17

And we amped 007 24 times and then injected it

52:22

each, well, twice for a total of 48 injections on a 24 flex.

52:28

We also took 23 single source samples

52:31

and injected them twice.

52:35

And when you look at the parent peak heights

52:37

for both data sets, they're, you know,

52:40

pretty equivalent with both auto spectral on and off.

52:45

When we used the minimum thresholds that we discussed

52:48

earlier, with auto spectral on,

52:50

we had around 1,800 pull up peak calls for these data sets

52:55

when evaluating with an internal development tool.

52:59

On the same hand, auto spectral off,

53:01

we had nearly double this pull up calls

53:04

with over 5,000 calls.

53:06

And average pull up peak height was nearly the same

53:10

for when the auto spectral calibration is disabled.

53:13

So again, a great way to reduce your pull up data.

53:18

And here's what that looks like when we look

53:20

on an individual sample and die basis.

53:23

This is the blue channel of a one

53:25

anagram extracted single source sample

53:27

that was analyzed at 50 RFU at all markers

53:31

and defaults that are filters were applied.

53:33

On the top, we ran with the flex with auto spectral on

53:36

and pull up detection enabled in GMAP or IDX 1.7.

53:41

There are actually zero calls that are made by the software

53:44

because the spectral calibration for this sample

53:46

effectively removed any pull up signal.

53:50

On the bottom, we ran the flex with auto spectral off

53:53

and did not enable pull up detection in GMAP or IDX.

53:58

Nine calls were manually annotated for this channel alone.

54:02

Peaks that were already labeled as an artifact

54:04

in this particular sample, such as the OMR here,

54:07

were not further defined.

54:09

When we take a look at the green channel,

54:13

similarly at the top panel, we have the flex instrument

54:16

with auto spectral on as default and pull up detection

54:19

enabled in GMAP or IDX.

54:23

GMAP or IDX labeled five peaks as pull up

54:26

based on the data point range and max pull up percent

54:29

sets in GMAP or IDX analysis method.

54:32

These pull up calls are labeled as artifacts

54:35

and therefore don't appear as a wheel calls

54:37

in the sizing table.

54:39

The three manual calls were made due to the way

54:41

the filters are set up for pull up analysis.

54:43

So again, that's something the lab would want

54:45

to optimize and validate.

54:47

The bottom panel shows the same sample injected

54:51

on the flex with auto spectral off

54:53

and pull up detection disabled.

54:55

And you can see that sample actually had 12 manual

54:59

pull up calls that were noted.

55:01

All right, so let's recap what we've discussed so far.

55:05

The seek pseudo flex has improved usability

55:08

with a newly designed array for even easier installation

55:11

in the ability to load four plates at any one time.

55:15

For resolution, the data is equivalent to the data

55:20

you already expect on our applied biosystems

55:23

to E systems like the 3500.

55:25

You have one base per resolution, low background noise

55:29

and peak heights are equivalent to the 3500.

55:31

In addition, you get faster results

55:35

with auto spectral calibration enabled combined

55:39

with GMAP or IDX 1.7 to allow for less time spent

55:42

analyzing data for pull up.

55:44

When we put all this together, it has the potential

55:49

to make your lab stronger and more efficient.

55:52

So flex your power.

55:56

Thank you for attending.

55:58

Please put your questions in the chat

56:00

and we will get to as many as we can today.

56:02

If you want in more in depth validation studies,

56:06

please refer to the seek studio flex for HIV user bulletin

56:09

and go to the link here.

56:11

- Thank you, Nick and Jill

56:15

for those interesting and informative presentations.

56:18

Now it's about time for the Q&A.

56:20

If you have questions, please submit it

56:22

through the Q&A panel on your screen.

56:25

While we wait for everyone to submit their questions,

56:27

I have a few polling questions for you.

56:29

First up, which of the following

56:32

will most increase your lab's productivity?

56:35

For play deck with continuous loading,

56:38

sample re-prioriturization,

56:40

spectral auto calibration and pull up reduction,

56:44

on instrument learning center with videos and wizards,

56:47

smart help/remote support.

56:49

Please take a moment, if you will,

56:52

to answer our polling questions,

56:54

so we keep in tune.

56:55

Right, well, it looks like the majority of you said,

56:59

four-plate deck with continuous loading

57:01

would help the most to increase your lab's productivity.

57:04

Our second question is,

57:07

the last time we went with agency IT

57:10

on instrumentation connectivity,

57:12

the answer was A, we've never asked

57:15

because we know we can.

57:17

B, not.

57:18

C, local area network.

57:21

LAN, only.

57:22

D, LAN and approved outside port.

57:25

Again, please take a minute to give us your answer

57:30

so we can understand more about your connectivity problems.

57:33

All right, thank you so much.

57:36

And our very last polling question for you

57:38

is coming right now.

57:40

This would you like to receive more information

57:42

on today's webinar topics?

57:44

Please select all that apply.

57:46

If you can go ahead and give us your answer,

57:49

then we will move on to our Q&A portion of the webinar.

57:54

Again, if you have a question,

57:56

please go ahead and make sure you get that in

57:58

and we'll try to address it.

58:00

Here is our first question.

58:05

And it is going to Nick.

58:08

Nick, are you ready for us?

58:10

- I am indeed.

58:11

Hello, everyone.

58:13

- I'm perfect.

58:14

All right, Nick.

58:15

- So, does the smartphone and instrument

58:18

need to be on the same Wi-Fi connection

58:21

for remote access function to work?

58:23

- Oh, that's a great question.

58:26

No, it does not need to be on the same network.

58:29

So the remote connection that we saw in the video,

58:33

that's going through a platform

58:35

called the ThermoConnect platform.

58:37

So how that works is the instrument is connected

58:40

to that platform and then your phone is connected

58:43

to that platform.

58:44

And that's how you gain access to the instrument.

58:46

You don't have to be on the same network.

58:48

This gives you the ability to be at home anywhere in the world

58:53

that you can safely and securely log on

58:55

to the ThermoConnect platform.

58:56

You can see the status of the instruments

58:58

and what is currently happening.

59:00

Really cool feature.

59:03

- Perfect.

59:04

- Thank you.

59:04

- All right, next question.

59:07

And Jill, this one's actually for you.

59:09

You ready for us?

59:11

- I'm ready.

59:13

- Perfect.

59:14

So Jill, does Seek Studio Flex have the OSR feature

59:18

as found in the 3500?

59:20

- It does.

59:22

So OSR or off-scale recovery is a default

59:27

that is enabled on the runs.

59:30

You have the ability to turn it off,

59:34

but we thought for efficiency reasons

59:37

that we would make it standard as default

59:39

on the HRD application runs.

59:43

- Okay, so yeah, that makes sense.

59:46

All right, here's another one for you.

59:49

So you explain more on the three different ways

59:52

to set up a plate?

59:54

- Yeah, absolutely.

59:56

So there's a number of nice ways to set up a plate.

01:00:00

So of course, there is the instrument GUI

01:00:05

that you can set up a plate on.

01:00:08

You can also use our plate manager software,

01:00:12

which is included.

01:00:14

So there is both a desktop version

01:00:17

and a version that is available with the thermophisher

01:00:21

connect similar to the remote monitoring.

01:00:24

So you can set up the plate on there.

01:00:26

And you can also create a .csv file.

01:00:30

And then those can be uploaded to the instrument via USB

01:00:35

or an internet or network connection.

01:00:39

So there's a number of ways to get a plate record

01:00:42

onto the instrument.

01:00:46

- That's okay.

01:00:48

And Nick, we have another question here that has come in for you.

01:00:54

What is the difference in the learning center

01:00:57

compared with the wizard?

01:01:00

- Another great question.

01:01:02

So there are two places you can go on the CStudio Flex

01:01:06

to get information.

01:01:08

So the learning center is what is new in the CStudio Flex.

01:01:13

If you go in there, you'll find a bunch of videos

01:01:16

that are narrated.

01:01:18

You can pause them and they help you set up plates.

01:01:22

They look at different aspects of the instrument.

01:01:25

They show you how to do things.

01:01:27

So this makes it really useful for people who haven't used

01:01:31

the instrument in a while.

01:01:33

It means that they can come up to the instrument

01:01:35

and just set up a plate and run very easily.

01:01:38

If they've forgotten anything,

01:01:39

they can use these videos to help them.

01:01:41

The wizards, anyone who has used the .3, 1/30 or the .3, 500

01:01:46

will know about the wizards.

01:01:48

We made them look much nicer in the .3, 500.

01:01:51

They're even better in the CStudio Flex now.

01:01:53

And they will take you step by step through guide

01:01:56

through the maintenance that you have to perform on the instrument.

01:01:59

So making sure the bubbles are gone from the polymer,

01:02:03

making sure that everything is accurate and done correctly

01:02:07

so you can be confident that the instrument is going to keep

01:02:09

giving you that data that you expect.

01:02:12

Perfect. Thank you.

01:02:15

So we are back to you, actually.

01:02:18

We have a researcher who says,

01:02:22

"Will I see less pull-up peaks with the systems?"

01:02:27

Absolutely. And I think I shared some of that in the slides

01:02:31

that I presented.

01:02:33

So we also enabled the auto-spectral calibration as default

01:02:39

in HID to enable less pull-up.

01:02:46

And when you use that in coordination with GeneMapper IDX 1.7,

01:02:50

you can really reduce the number of pull-up calls.

01:02:54

So we actually initiated or first launched a pull-up reduction feature

01:03:00

with the 3,500 data collection for the only thing that we've --

01:03:06

I'm sorry -- we enhanced it on the Flex to allow it to carry the information

01:03:12

through, and so it continuously updates per sample.

01:03:18

And so that's why if you put a new capillary on,

01:03:22

you don't actually have to run a new spectral calibration

01:03:27

because it saved that data.

01:03:30

On the 3,500, you weren't able to save that data.

01:03:33

It looked at the data, compared it to a manual calibration,

01:03:37

and then updated it if it could.

01:03:40

Now it's released since you can use the samples on the Flex.

01:03:44

It continues to improve upon itself,

01:03:47

so it's much better than the manual.

01:03:51

And so we did show that also with the auto-spectral calibration

01:03:57

on versus the auto-spectral calibration off.

01:04:01

You've got more than twice, maybe even three times the number of pull-up peaks

01:04:06

when you actually disabled auto-spectral calibration off.

01:04:10

So we did validate the instrument with it only enabled.

01:04:15

So we would definitely recommend using that feature.

01:04:20

Perfect, thank you Joe, that's really informative.

01:04:25

Okay, next, back to you now.

01:04:28

Can you tell us why the decision was made to redesign the array?

01:04:36

Well, we have to do something to make it better.

01:04:42

Well, looking back, when we were designing the Peak Studio Flex,

01:04:46

we did a lot of voice of customer.

01:04:48

We spoke to a lot of customers around the world and tried to understand

01:04:52

what the pain points they were feeling.

01:04:54

If you speak to any customer or anyone who has ever run a 3130

01:04:58

who then went on to a 3500, they would probably tell you that

01:05:02

it was just light years ahead in terms of usability and the ease of use of it.

01:05:08

There wasn't really much that people thought that we could do to improve it

01:05:12

until you look at just the simple change that we made with the array.

01:05:16

And putting in this retractor tab, it means that you can one insert the array

01:05:22

single-handed, which is lovely.

01:05:25

You don't have to worry about breaking any of those capillaries on there.

01:05:28

The other thing is that you can confidently just slide in the cap bundle

01:05:34

and the detection window is going to be seated perfectly where it needs to be

01:05:38

so that the instrument can run that spectral calibration,

01:05:41

you can run that spectral calibration and get on with your

01:05:45

the work that you need to do.

01:05:47

So it really is just making life that much easier for anyone who's using the

01:05:52

instrument.

01:05:53

Well, and that's what forensic experts want. So that sounds like good plan.

01:05:58

Yes, ease of use all the way.

01:06:01

Our next last question for you then.

01:06:07

What can we do with remote monitoring?

01:06:14

So remote monitoring is a pretty awesome feature that we brought in with the

01:06:20

Seek Studio Flex.

01:06:22

This is going to give you the ability to check in on the instrument,

01:06:26

see how the instrument is running, see if there are any positions free to load

01:06:31

samples, to load plates.

01:06:33

You're going to be able to see if there are any issues with the instruments.

01:06:37

So that is really helpful.

01:06:39

A lot of times people will find that the post amplification lab

01:06:43

is not really frequented that much or it's not populated that often with

01:06:48

scientists.

01:06:49

People actually have to go down there when they think that their run is ready.

01:06:53

With the remote monitoring it makes it really easy just to quickly check to see

01:06:56

if everything is ready so that you can go down there if you need to or if there

01:07:00

are any errors.

01:07:01

The other things that is kind of adjacent to the remote monitoring that you can

01:07:06

do is the remote support.

01:07:08

So through this, if you are at the instrument, something goes wrong,

01:07:12

you recognize an issue, you can open up tech support cases directly from the

01:07:17

instrument.

01:07:18

So that means that you can open up the case, someone up there in my Fisher

01:07:22

and in support can get hold of that and then they can call you back.

01:07:25

And then even on to the next level of things is the ability that our engineers

01:07:31

can remote into that instrument and help you fix a bunch of issues remotely

01:07:37

without even having to come in.

01:07:39

So the instrument in your lab does not have to go down.

01:07:42

If there's an issue we can remote in and we can fix it much quicker

01:07:45

than if you had to wait for an engineer to come to you.

01:07:48

So a lot of different features that are all about connectivity.

01:07:51

We're living in a connected world and now the forensic lab is starting to get

01:07:56

there too.

01:07:57

Of course that makes sense.

01:08:01

All right audience, well that wraps up the time we have for Q&A today.

01:08:06

I'd like to thank our fantastic presenters, Nick and Jill,

01:08:09

as well as the real Fisher scientific sponsor for a trade webinar.

01:08:12

In 24 hours or less, this webinar will be available on demand

01:08:16

if you would like to share it with friends and colleagues or maybe even watch

01:08:20

it again.

01:08:21

Additionally, please keep your eyes open for an invitation to our next one in

01:08:25

November.

01:08:26

Until then, thank you so much for attending today and we hope to see you next

01:08:29

time.

01:08:30

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