By Matt Weiss, Owner and Lead Engineer
The Aria platform, both the OS and MX versions, has been the backbone multiplexing software for the HPLC service Elite LCMS provides to customers for 20 years. Aria multiplexing HPLC, created by Cohesive Technologies, Inc, was the first to market. Others have somewhat duplicated the multiplexing HPLC concept, but none with the efficiency, robustness, and flexibility of the Aria interface. This is not to say that multiplexing doesn’t exist, but the Aria platform is still the most user friendly and versatile platform, as well as being an excellent HPLC troubleshooting tool for helping users in diagnostics. As a HPLC Service provider, the Aria platform allows us at Elite LCMS to offer a level of support to our customers that aids in their performances goals by avoiding downtime related to failures that would otherwise render non-Aria based systems unusable. Proper HPLC preventive maintenance helps with this, but even the industry standard of two PM cycles a year can only do so much to prevent downtime. Downtime inherently equates to lost revenue even when your HPLC service provider is prompt. With this in mind, there simply isn’t a comparable substitute for the Aria multiplexing HPLC platform.
Valuable Features that aids our customers and our HPLC Service commitments
Detailed pressure tracing, both real-time, in-run, and stored with batch history, to always have the ability to troubleshoot any performance issues; past and present. From the perspective of the user, this can be instrumental in identifying the presence of issues, and sourcing them. As a HPLC service provider, this allow us to provide quick and concise fixes to those issues.
Continuous operations when a system errors out. Depending on batch setup, the Aria system will complete a run if one of its systems has an error (leak, overpressure, any error related to just the LC portion). Aria will disable the system in question and complete the run on the remaining systems. From the perspective of a HPLC service provider, this fundamentally changes the conversation on uptime.
Multiple “Home” screens. The user can select whether to have an overview of the system, giving the current run status of the autosampler, LC, and mass spectrometer all in one view. Or the user can view the batch and its current state. Or the user can see the detailed real time pressure trace of the run.
Multiplexing independently assigned systems for individual assays. Depending on batch setup and mass spec method parameters, Aria can be set up to multiplex multiple systems each running their own assay. Great for open access systems or utilizing the Aria HPLC to handle a varying workload.
Aria and providing service for HPLC
Even though the multiplexing Aria OS platform is no longer being updated, it has shown to be up to the task for hundreds and hundreds of customers through the years and is still handling HPLC duties today in almost all Elite LCMS’ customers. Among these are high throughput labs that still utilize the platform, and plan on doing so for years to come.
