Automated Analytical Measurement System for Determination of Cholesterol in Pig Bile

Abstract

Automation systems are well-established in life science applications. Especially in the field of high-throughput and high-content screening, a high degree of automation is state of the art. In contrast, in analytical measurement processes only minor automation is applied in the daily use. Measurement methods in the field of small molecules often require a special sample preparation to separate the analyte prior the measurement to enable a suitable pre-sensory selectivity. For the determination of cholesterol in biological samples a number of measurement methods is available; there is still an increasing number of matrices requiring new method development. For testing newly developed biliary endoprostheses, a monitoring of the elemental composition and cholesterol content of the test material is essential. An automated measurement method and a robotic system were developed for the determination of cholesterol in pig bile using gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC/MS). The complex sample preparation process including a sample cleanup using solid phase extraction (SPE) is automatically performed. The automated measurement process was validated and compared to the manual procedure.