From Modular to Integrated, from R&D to GMP
The Modular-Lab platform enables flexible, automated workflows beyond standard applications—combining modular design, advanced sensors, and scalable process control for efficient and reproducible production.
Modular-Lab can be taken beyond synthesis into downstream purification by integrating tangential flow filtration (TFF). Because TFF drives a feed stream parallel to the membrane surface, it is well suited for concentration, diafiltration, and buffer exchange of high molecular weight compounds while reducing membrane fouling compared with dead-end filtration. Combined with the platform’s modular design and programmable fluid handling, this enables process development from synthesis to purification in one automated environment.
In membrane-based processes like tangential fow filtration, transmembrane pressure is the key driving force, which makes pressure stability directly relevant for throughput and filter protection. Conventional roller-type peristaltic pumps are known to generate pulsatile flow and associated pressure peaks. Part of process optimiation ist, reducing those pulsations to help operate within the permissible pressure range of the membrane. For Modular-Lab, that means faster continuous processing, more stable filtration conditions, and lower risk of overloading sensitive filter elements.
After purification, product concentration might not be within an acceptable range. For UV-absorbant compounds, inline UV/Vis measurement is a analytical basis for automated concentration control. Modular-Lab already supports UV-based monitoring for preparative HPLC, and a single-use flow cell can extend the platform toward automated concentration measurement and adjustment to a final setpoint after purification.
Modular-Lab was originally built around process automation and already supports monitoring of pressure, temperature, activity, flow, valve settings, and UV-related parameters. Expanding the platform with analog and digital interfaces broadens that concept: discrete sensors can provide robust event signals, while analog sensors deliver continuous measurements for tighter control loops. This makes Modular-Lab attractive not only for radiopharmaceutical workflows, but also for general fluidic applications.
Capacitive sensors are well suited wherever liquid levels need to be detected without direct contact with the product. They can reliably sense through non-conductive vessel walls, compensate for foam or residue in many applications, and are commonly used for point-level detection, overflow protection, leak detection, and pump-related switching tasks. In a TFF buffer-exchange workflow, that makes them a practical solution for keeping a collection vessel within a defined operating volume and at a set cocentration and viscosity.
Digital fill level sensors are excellent whenever a binary control is sufficient. When a stable process volume is desired, analog sensing has clear advantages because it converts the measured condition into a continuous electrical signal instead of only switching on or off. That gives Modular-Lab finer control over refill logic, narrower control bands, and smoother closed-loop operation in continuous or semi-continuous fluidic processes.
Signal hysteresis is a common feature of sensors with digital output. That built-in gap causes mesurable fluctuations when a vessels fill level is controlled with binary signals alone. By selecting the right sensor position, optimizing vessel geometry, and defining suitable pump control logic, Modular-Lab can keep these oscillations small and maintain a process volume that remains close to constant even in dynamic operation.
Peristaltic pumps are ideal for closed and single-use fluid paths, but their real flow depends on tubing properties, pump tolerances, and fluid behavior. That is why calibration remains essential whenever the pump is used for dosing rather than simple transfer. A volumetric calibration concept based on defined internal volumes and capacitive fill level monitoring fits naturally with Modular-Lab’s automated fluidics while avoiding the need for gravimetry.
Reproducible dosing with peristaltic pumps does not depend on calibration alone. Tubing tolerances, cassette geometry, mounting repeatability, and pump condition all influence how closely the actual flow matches the target value from run to run. Because Modular-Lab already combines a programmable peristaltic pump module with purpose-built cassette fixation and fail-safe mounting concepts, it offers a strong basis for standardized setups that reduce variability and improve repeatable flow performance in single-use processes.
In pharmaceutical manufacturing, the safest error is the one that cannot happen. Poka-yoke, or mistake-proofing, is built around exactly that principle: either make the wrong step impossible, or make it immediately obvious. Modular-Lab’s cassette handling, user permission level configuration, automated audit trail and batch reporting, restricted access to process data, and fail-safe cassette fixation are GMP-oriented poka-yoke elements that reduce the risk of human error at the source.
Modular-Lab´s latest software release expands on the already existing functionality for process control. More flexible data input, integration into MES environments, and updated user administration fit naturally with the platform’s documented strengths in access control, automated logging, and batch reporting. For customers, that translates into a software environment that is better aligned with dynamic production organizations while remaining grounded in GMP-, GAMP 5-, and 21 CFR Part 11-oriented process control.