Advanced Instrument With Need for User-Friendly Software

ddPCR droplet reader is elementally a useful benchtop instrument for quantifying copy number with high precision and accuracy. However, the QuantaSoft Software used to acquire and analyze data has limited capacity in providing a user-friendly platform to setup plate layouts and acquire data in a timely manner. Templates cannot currently be imported via Excel. Thus, it makes a laborious task to manually input each sample ID for a QC experiment. Moreover, the lack of analysis templates extends the analysis time as users have to repetitively indicate the same analysis settings before exporting the .csv data file. In addition, control samples (With housekeeping genes) cannot be normalized to unknown samples in the software. Rather, the raw data must be transferred to .csv and analyzed with user’s formulae in Excel format. Bringing analysis elements to the boundaries of the software would enhance the efficiency of ddPCR data analysis. The droplet generator system is powerful and efficient at generating approximately 14000 droplets/sample in 1-2 min, when used for viral copy number analysis. However, the 8-well cartridge system is not efficient when you have a full 96-well sample plate, as it takes 30 min to generate droplets, after which the droplet plate is sealed with a plate sealer and run in a thermal cycler. Thus, several instruments and equipment are required to prepare and process the samples before the final droplet reading step. Thus, it may be worthwhile consolidating equipment to conserve resources and increase data acquisition rate. Overall, the advanced instrument has the potential to be used more efficiently with regular logistical software updates and improved data acquisition speeds.