High Performance Microplates for Discovery Sciences

aurora

microplates
Aurora Microplates is 100% focused on making the highest quality, highest performing Microplates available. We use the best materials, the cleanest and most precise molding operations and facilities to deliver our Microplates in a timely fashion. We have great respect for the demands of modern discovery science and its’ ever-evolving search for more sensitive and subtle clues to understanding cause and effect. We believe that the best Microplates should be an invisible carrier for your work- not a contributor to variability in your data. We will continue to adhere to these principles as we operate, innovate and support your needs now and in the future.

Our Products

All Aurora Microplate Products are made with 100% Cyclo-Olefin Polymer (COP) materials- for both the plate frame and the film-bottom materials. COP is 100% biocompatible, chemically inert, mechanically stable and optically transparent in a broad wavelength range.
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384 IQ LV plates are Imager-Quality Low Volume plates that are available with either 100 or 188 micron thick film bottoms. Available in Black, White or Clear, these plates have Low Volume (48μL) round wells and a perimeter area that can be used to help prevent differential liquid evaporation from the edge wells. 384 IQ LV plates are available Tissue-Culture Treated for assays using cells with a 5 mm2 bottom surface area. These Film-Bottom plates are suitable for small-surface-area Imaging applications and are compatible with a variety of Microscope Imaging Systems. All Aurora plates are available with standard or custom bar-coding.


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Available in Black, White or Clear, these plates have Low Volume (48μL) round wells and a perimeter area that can be used to help prevent differential liquid evaporation from the edge assay wells. 384 LV plates are available Tissue-Culture Treated for assays using cells with a 5 mm2 bottom surface area. 384 LV plates have a very consistent bottom thickness making them ideal for compound storage and retrieval using pin-tools or Acoustics. The LV well shape enables a low-dead-volume result reducing waste and un-used material. All Aurora plates are available with standard or custom bar-coding.


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384 SQ Solid bottom plates are available in Black, White or Clear with larger-volume (126μL) square solid-bottom wells. 384 SQ plates are available Tissue-Culture Treated for assays using cells with a 7.5 mm2 bottom surface area. 384 SQ plates are available with an Evaporation Barrier row of wells which can be filled with most current dispensing systems to help prevent differential liquid evaporation from the edge assay wells. These square well plates are suitable for a variety of applications using chemicals, cells, proteins or nucleic acids. All Aurora plates are available with standard or custom bar-coding.


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384 IQ SQ plates are Imager-Quality Standard Volume plates that are available with either 100 or 188 micron thick film bottoms. Available in Black, White or Clear, these plates have Standard Volume (126μL) square wells and are available in EB-format- with perimeter wells that can be filled to help prevent differential liquid evaporation from the edge wells. 384 IQ EB plates are available Tissue-Culture Treated for assays using cells with a 7.5 mm2 bottom surface area and a 2mm well bottom height. These Film-Bottom plates are suitable for larger-surface-area Imaging applications and are compatible with a variety of Microscope Imaging Systems. All Aurora plates are available with standard or custom bar-coding.


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384 IQ SQ-ULB plates are Imager-Quality Standard Volume plates that are available with either 100 or 188 micron thick film bottoms and an Ultra-Low-Base configuration for high-magnification imaging applications. The ULB design positions the well-bottom film in very close proximity to the plate-skirt bottom (0.5mm) making it ideal for imaging needs. Available in Black, White or Clear, these plates have Standard Volume (126μL) square wells and are available in EB-format- with perimeter wells that can be filled to help prevent differential liquid evaporation from the edge wells. 384 IQ EB-ULB plates are available Tissue-Culture Treated for assays using cells with a 7.5 mm2 bottom surface area. These Film-Bottom plates are suitable for larger-surface-area Imaging applications and are compatible with a variety of Microscope Imaging Systems. All Aurora plates are available with standard or custom bar-coding.


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  • Flatness under 100µ
  • Excellent S/N performance
  • 100 & 188µm film bottom options
  • Low, Medium & High Bind Tissue Culture Treatment & Coating options
1536 SQ well HiBase plates are available in Black, White and Clear with solid-bottoms. 1536 SQ HB plates are available Tissue-Culture Treated for assays using cells with a 2.3 mm2 bottom surface area. 1536 SQ HB plates have a very consistent bottom thickness making them ideal for compound storage and retrieval using pin-tools or Acoustics. The tapered well shape and size (5mm well depth) enables a low-dead-volume (10.2μL useable volume) result reducing waste and un-used material. All Aurora plates are available with standard or custom bar-coding.

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  • Flatness under 100µm
  • Excellent S/N performance
  • 100 & 188µm film bottom options
  • Low, Medium & High Bind Tissue Culture Treatment & Coating options
1536 SQ well LoBase plates are available in Black, White and Clear with solid-bottoms, and 100 micron or 188-micron thick film bottoms. 1536 SQ LB plates are available Tissue-Culture Treated for assays using cells with a 2.16 mm2 bottom surface area. 1536 SQ LB- solid bottom plates have a very consistent bottom thickness making them ideal for compound storage and retrieval using pin-tools or Acoustics. The film-bottom configurations are ideal for fluorescence assays and imaging applications. The tapered well shape and size (6.7mm well depth) enables a low-dead-volume (13.6μL useable volume) result, reducing waste and un-used material. All Aurora plates are available with standard or custom bar-coding.

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  • Flatness under 100µm
  • Excellent S/N performance
  • 100 & 188µm film bottom options
  • Low, Medium & High Bind Tissue Culture Treatment & Coating options
1536 Well MaKO plates are available in Black, White or Clear with solid-bottoms or 100 micron-thick film bottoms. 1536 Well MaKO plates have round wells and a HiBase configuration. 1536 MaKO plates have a built-in Evaporation Barrier (EB) row of wells surrounding the assay well field that can be filled to help prevent differential liquid evaporation from the edge wells. 1536 MaKO have built-in alignment fiducials used in Acoustic Dispensing systems. 1536 MaKO plates are available Tissue-Culture Treated for assays using cells with a small bottom surface area (1.85mm2).. The film-bottom configurations are ideal for fluorescence assays. 1536 Well MaKO plates have low-dead-volume characteristics (total useable volume 8.75μL). All Aurora plates are available with standard or customer bar-coding.

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3456 Well MaKO plates are available in Black, White or Clear with solid-bottoms or 100 micron-thick film bottoms. 3456 Well MaKO plates have round wells and a HiBase configuration. 13456 MaKO plates have a built-in Evaporation Barrier (EB) row of wells surrounding the assay well field that can be filled to help prevent differential liquid evaporation from the edge wells. 3456 MaKO have built-in alignment fiducials used in Acoustic Dispensing systems. 3456 MaKO plates are available Tissue-Culture Treated for assays using cells with a very-small bottom surface area (0.64mm2). The film-bottom configurations are ideal for fluorescence assays. 1536 Well MaKO plates have extremely low-dead-volume characteristics (total useable volume 2.66μL). 3456 MaKO plates are ideal for very-high volume high-throughput applications in discovery sciences. All Aurora plates are available with standard or customer bar-coding.


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Our Process

High-Performance and High Precision Microplates

Aurora Microplates’ products are constructed of cyclo-olefin polymer (COP) which has distinctive physical and chemical properties that are superior to polystyrene and polypropylene. Unlike conventional microplates, COP creates a superior combination of optimal clarity, thermal stability, biocompatibility, low auto-fluorescence, flatness and chemical resistance. Aurora Microplates holds exclusive patent rights for the use of this plastic in high-density microplates for laboratory research.

Unique Features Increase Performance

  • A1 Chamfer: Allows for quick visual orientation of microplates when setting up automation runs.

  • Bar Coding: Each label has an 8-digit number adjacent to the bar code symbol. It can be used for data collection and auditing of the scientific data on the microplate. Labels have been tested for readability, chemical resistance, and temperature variation.

  • Well Arrays: Features an array of 1700 wells on the 1536-well microplates or 3700 wells on the 3456-well microplates, which includes assay wells and perimeter wells.

  • Perimeter Wells: The perimeter consists of 164 or244 dummy wells for the 1536-well and 3456-well microplates, respectively. When filled with aqueous or DMSO solutions, these wells effectively shield the assay wells from the edge effects of evaporation or water uptake.

  • Assay Wells: Featuring a 32 X 48 well array for the 1536-well microplates and a 48 X 72 well array for the 3456-well microplates. Both microplates are compatible with the 8 X 12 grid that is common in liquid handling and microplate reading devices.

  • Well Dimensions: Afford a much lower surface area to- volume ratio compared to 384-well microplates at the same volumes. This contributes to lower rates of evaporation and higher data quality.

  • Usable Volume: Supports a usable volume of 8.75 µL and 2.4 µL for the 1536-well and 3456-well microplates, respectively.

  • Round Wells: Promotes uniform cell distribution by eliminating aggregations in the corners of square wells. They exhibit a meniscus that is better suited for optical measurements.

  • Flat Bottom Wells: Excellent for optical measurements and microscopic examination.

Technology

Key Attributes of Aurora Microplates’ Plates

High Light Transmittance:

All Aurora plates exhibit high transmittance of UV, visible, and near-IR wavelengths of light. This transmittance is superior to other plastics used in optic quantitation, including polystyrene, and results in improved research results. The plates support an expanded optical window down to 240nm. These disposable plates are well-suited for absorbance measurements of nucleic acid, and protein concentrations at 260nm and 280nmand provide a less expensive alternative to fragile glass-bottom plates.

Low Auto-Fluorescence:

COP has less than 1% the native auto-fluorescence of polystyrene when excited at UV wavelengths of light. The result for life-science researchers is better assay signal-to-noise performance and greater sensitivity.

Broad Chemical Resistance:

Our products are chemically inert to many standard laboratory organics including DMSO, for example. This enables the use of our plates for storage of chemical compound libraries in used in screening applications for drug discovery.

Biocompatibility/Chemically Inert:

No catalysts or reactive intermediates are used during the polymerization process and manufacturing of our plates. This results in a very inert plate surface. Additionally, there are no heavy metals or oxidizers present to react with your compounds or biological materials.

Thermal Stability:

Our plates exhibit excellent mechanical memory from -80°C to +120°C. This wide range of stability is conducive to cold storage as well as thermal-cycling.

Rigidity for Mechanical Stability:

COP’s material hardness and a 2.2GPa rigidity resists microplate surface curvature by mechanical handling or heat treatments below 120°C. In addition, these plates will with-stand numerous repetitive heat-sealing applications, without deforming of the top surface-which is critical in Acoustic Dispensing Applications.

Microplate Flatness

The flat-bottom design of microplates from Aurora are optimized for high-performance imaging and mutli-mode detection. The flat bottom allows for more efficient plate washing results. The bottom surface is engineered to be extremely flat with a high transmittance window for optical measurements of each well.

Automation Compatible:

COP Plates meet the rigorous demands of laboratory automation. The plates are qualified for fit and function that ensures reliable handling in robotic operations. Special automation features on the plates can include fiducials, flanges and cutouts for positioning and embossing during microplate stacking routines.

Quality Manufacturing:

All microplates are manufactured under strict process controls guaranteeing consistently high performance. Plates are made under clean room conditions in an ISO-13485 registered facility according to currently-accepted quality standards. All microplates are non-pyrogenic (<0.06EU/mL). Certain assay requirements may prohibit conformance to these standards in order to achieve desirous results.

Low Evaporation Lids:

Lids are included in with all microplates, unless otherwise specified. Each lid significantly reduces sample loss due to evaporation. A series of channels restricts airflow yet allows for gaseous exchange in the well array. This reduces the transfer of water vapor between the wells and the external environment, and results in lower evaporation of aqueous solutions or reduced water uptake for DMSO based applications.

Our Team

Mr. Coassin has over 27 years experience in the invention, development, and commercialization of various life science innovations and holds 38 issued patents in technology including cycloolefin polymer based microplate technology. Mr. Coassin has been associated with Aurora since 1996.

Peter J. Coassin

peter@auroramicroplates.com

Technical Officer

Mr. Powell joined Aurora Discovery in May 2004 as Vice President, Sales and Marketing eventually becoming Chief Commercial Officer and Director. Aurora evolved over 7 years – merging with Nexus Biosystems in 2009 before being bought by Brooks Automation in 2011. Mr. Powell and associates purchased the Aurora Business from Brooks Automation in October 2015 and have operated the business since that date.

Charles R. Powell

charles@auroramicroplates.com

Commercial Officer, Managing Partner