High throughput liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry bioanalysis using 96-well disk solid phase extraction plate for the sample preparation

Abstract

The 96 well solid phase extraction (SPE) operated by robot in the LC/MS/MS bioanalysis offered rapid sample preparation for drugs and metabolites in biological matrices, based on simultaneous extraction of 96 samples. The use of a disk as sorbent in the 96 well plate further improved the performance of SPE and allowed for small elution volumes, making it possible to 'dilute and shoot" after SPE elution. In this study, a 96 well plate (Empore) was developed, characterized and optimized for several pharmaceutical compounds. In addition, a robot (MultiProbe) was modified to automate the 96 well plate operation. Examples were given to illustrate the major differences of using 96 well disk plate SPE in the method development as compared to the traditional SPE. This technology has been successfully used to support many clinical studies. Typically, a batch of 96 samples were prepared in 1-1.5 hours unattended (except for the replacement of a collection plate). Considerable savings in disposable supplies were also noted.