Evaluating Flow Cytometry Hardware - Advice for making the right choice.
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Transcript of Evaluating Flow Cytometry Hardware - Advice for making the right choice.
EVALUATING HARDWARETools and Advice for Making the Right Choice
Ryan DugganUniversity of Chicago
Adapted from: http://ucflow.blogspot.com/2013/07/10-tips-for-purchasing-your-next.html
10-step process
1. Define Needs
2. Query the Userbase
3. Refine Needs
4. Survey the Market
5. Navigate Marketing
6. Create the Matrix
7. Hands-on
8. Social Networks
9. Negotiate
10. Year-end deals
11. Now What?
Define Needs
• Create a generic specification of the needed equipment based on YOUR perception.
• What applications do you see being run immediately, near future?
Query the Userbase
• Survey the users to find out what they need from THEIR perspective.
• Analyze recent historical data
• Talk to key Investigators• Research current
industry trends• Ignore much of what the
users say they need.
Refine the Needs
• Find the middle ground• Realistic specification with “room to grow”
Survey the Market
• Research what’s available
• Base entry for consideration on min. spec.
• Use organizational tools like Evernote™ or ELN to track contenders.
Navigate the Marketing• Learn to read marketing materials• Differentiate between Technical spec (what the instrument
has) and Performance Spec (what the hardware can do).• Marketing materials are fine for listing Tech. Spec. but
NOT Performance Specification.• Samsung found itself accused of artificially (and secretly) boosting
benchmark scores on its flagship phone to ensure it would outperform the competition.” - The Verge (http://goo.gl/5vuCs9)
Create the Matrix• List of specifications vs. available hardware• Use marketing material tech. spec.• Include budget as a spec.
# of Lasers (Total Avail.)
Total Detectors
Field Upgradable
Multi-well Sampler Event Rate Total
Events/FileOptical
Upgrades Avail.
Instrument A 1-3 (3) 3-8 No Yes 2,000 100,000 No
Instrument B 2-4 (7) 4-12 Yes Yes 10,000 5,000,000 Yes
Instrument C 2-6 (12) 4-18 Yes Yes 20,000 10,000,000 Yes
Instrument D 2-4 (4) 4-10 No No 20,000 2,000,000 No
Instrument E 2-5 (8) 4-14 Yes Yes 20,000 10,000,000 Yes
Instrument F 1-3 (4) 3-6 No No 2,000 100,000 No
Hands-on• NO CANNED DEMOS• NO EXAMPLE DATA SETS• Real data, collected by you, analyzed by you.• Create your own performance metric if none exists.• Make THIS, a high level priority that will greatly influence
your decision
4-peak ABC beads
Unstained lymphocytes
Dimly stained capture beads
Resolution limit theoretical peak
10th %-ile ABC
Med
ian
AB
C
Median ABC values
10th %-ile ABC values
90th %-ile of AutoFluorescence = 10th %-ile of resolution limit
# of Antibodies BoundF
requ
ency
qNORM
Figure 3. Cartoon displaying how the qNORM is calculated.
Get Social
• Read reviews• Ask peers• Request OEM response for any negative feedback
• Avoid Gen. 0 evangelists.
Negotiate Purchase• Negotiate with multiple OEM’s regardless of intent to
purchase• Make sure OEMs are aware of their competition• Competitive bid may be required anyway• Get everything in writing• Include Training, extended warranty, shipping, installation,
free upgrades, etc…
Be Mindful of Year-end deals• If you can time it right, year-end numbers can be a
powerful bargaining chip.
Summary• Do your homework• Test the hardware in real-world situations• (Re)negotiate
NOW WHAT?
You got the instrument• Time to implement it’s usage• This isn’t the first time you’re thinking about this, is it???
Alert your Users • Once you’ve narrowed down the choice and made the
decision, alert your users.• Send them materials describing the capabilities of the
instrument• Ask the OEM sales rep to reach out to users.
Solidify the SOP• Re-work usage SOP’s specific to this instrument.• Distribute to the users• Ask for comments from oversight committee/ safety
committee/ Faculty Director, etc…
Getting everyone up-to-speed.
• Training of the facility staff by OEM
• Training of staff + key users by OEM.
• Seminar style intro to the technology
• Spend some time with the instrument in the first week or so to get comfortable.
Spread the word
• Continually update users with representative data from the instrument.
• User-derived or facility-derived.
• Boost confidence in its capabilities
• Squash problems immediately.
#supercoolflowplot
Summary• Implementation plan begins once you’ve decided on the
specific instrument• Provide adequate information to users ahead of time• Formulate training plan needs (replicate instrument or
brand new technology)• Share data and experiences with users often• Stay ahead of problems and misconceptions/rumors.
Thank you