Acoustic auditing as a real-time, non-invasive quality control process for both source and assay plates.

Acoustic auditing is a non-destructive, non-invasive technique to monitor the composition and volume of fluids in open or sealed microplates and storage tubes. When acoustic energy encounters an interface between two materials, some of the energy passes through the interface, while the remainder is reflected. Acoustic energy applied to the bottom of a multi-well plate or a storage tube is reflected by the fluid contents of the microplate or tube. The amplitude of these reflections or echoes correlates directly with properties of the fluid, including the speed of sound and the concentration of water in the fluid. Once the speed of sound in the solution is known from the analysis of these echoes, it is easy to determine the depth of liquid and, thereby, the volume by monitoring how long it takes for sound energy to reflect off the fluid meniscus. This technique is rapid (>100,000 samples per day), precise (<1% coefficient of variation for hydration measurements, <4% coefficient of variation for volume measurements), and robust. It does not require uncapping tubes or unsealing or unlidding microplates. The sound energy is extremely gentle and has no deleterious impact upon the fluid or compounds dissolved in it.