Use of a bacterial sampler for rapid transfer of microvolumes into microplates

A method has been devised to transfer very small volumes of serum from microplates prepared during routine screening of blood into microplates containing diluent. Simultaneous transfer of 96 samples is achieved without the need for disposable tips, while still avoiding carry-over between different plates. Using this method a mean transfer volume of 0.9 microliters (cv 8.9%) was obtained, which lent itself conveniently to testing for high-titre anti-microbial antibodies for which high dilution factors are required.