PlasmoTron
PlasmoTron is an open-source robotic system built on top of the OpenTrons platform, to allow semi-automated culture of malaria parasites.
Specifically PlasmoTron provides these features:
- a database to store information about all plates currently in culture, and where individual cultures are located on them
- an interface to control an OpenTrons robot in order to feed these parasites, split them, and/or take an aliquot to measure parasitaemia by SYBR-green flow cytometry
- the ability to upload the results from a flow cytometer to the database and have them associated with each culture at a specific time.
- an intelligent system to use this parasitaemia data to decide how to split parasites
Development status
PlasmoTron is not a commercial product. It is a system we have built in the lab to simplify our own culture, and which we offer to others in case it is helpful. PlasmoTron remains under active development and new features continue to be integrated. Please feel free to get in touch to discuss whether PlasmoTron is likely to be suitable for you in its current iteration.
Getting started
The documentation is divided into three sections:
- Pre-requisites and installation describes what you will need, and the set-up of both hardware and software.
- Deck setup and calibration describes the initial calibration procedures that are required to teach the robot where you will place your labware.
- The PlasmoTron tutorial will explain how, once this initial setup is complete, you can use PlasmoTron to maintain malaria parasites.