Robot simplifies lab work for UMaine students
Emma Perry, a lab manager at the University of Maine, spent countless hours of her career dying tissue samples by dipping them into 20-30 jars of liquid one careful step at a time and always wondered if there could be a better way. As she watched the head of a 3D printer work in an up-down-side-to-side motion, a lightbulb went off.
Nine months, a 3D printer and about $500 later, she had built a robot — by hand — that now helps student and faculty researchers reveal the inner worlds of cells with a fraction of the labor.
Undergraduates in associate professor Jared Talbot’s histology course were the first group of students to use Perry’s invention this spring.
Histology — the study of microscopic biological tissues found in humans, animals or even plants — dates back centuries. But the modern equipment used in professional labs can cost far more than most classrooms can afford.
Perry, who manages the Electron Microscopy Laboratory in UMaine’s Coordinated Operating Research Entities (CORE), wanted faculty and students at UMaine to have access to a process similar to what is used in professional laboratories and medical facilities without the prohibitive cost. So she designed her own automated staining robot to replicate that workflow while reducing hours of repetitive manual lab work.
“Anyone’s allowed to use it,” Perry said, “but I would imagine it would be primarily used by biology students — and I say biology in the bigger sense. So that would include forestry, fisheries, marine science and wildlife and fishery.”
Talbot, associate professor of developmental biology, has a weekly lecture and lab portion to his histology course. Students pick a specific organ to study throughout the semester. In addition to learning about it in lectures, they work with real samples and create microscopic slides by encasing their samples in thick wax and slicing it thin.
Biology major Angelina White studied the ovary of a cat. She said the robot made a tedious process seamless, reduced stress and allowed the students to utilize their time to learn more about their chosen organ.
“The coolest part of looking at the section itself was you could see all of the eggs in the cat’s ovary,” White said.
Before the samples can be observed under a microscope, they must be dipped in an assortment of liquids that attach to and illuminate different cellular structures. One dye may attach to bone, while another attaches to cartilage. Without the dye, the tissues would be hard to see, even under a microscope.
“It basically is the equivalent of looking at a picture in black and white versus color, because color tells you so much more information,” said Lauren Dumont, who’s now pursuing a master’s of education at UMaine following her bachelor’s in biology.
Even though the students had access to the robot, Dumont said they also learned how to hand stain.
Perry’s robot can dip the samples in up to 20 different liquids at a time. To hand stain using that many liquids could take anywhere from a little over an hour to 5 hours or more.
Perry enlisted the help of Michael Call, CORE facilities manager and research engineer, who shaped her ideas into actual mechanics. UMaine alum Michael Taylor (‘22) and the team UMaine Hackerspace also helped with programming, and the Innovative Media Research and Commercialization (IMRC) Center designed and printed pieces that held the samples as the robot dipped them into liquids.
“It was really a group effort, helping me turn my concept, my design, into reality,” Perry said.
While it is used in Talbot’s annual spring histology course, the robot is also available to rent anytime by anyone for $20 per hour. Staining can be used on plant-related studies like leaf anatomy in addition to animal organs and tissues.
Contact: Ashley Yates; ashley.depew@maine.edu