Questions
Purchase
- Cost
- Delivery
- Installation
- Warranty
- Options
Training and Support
Applications and Software
Accuracy and Reproducibility
- Positioning accuracy
- Spot recovery
- Reproducibility
Liquid Handling
- Dispensing
- System liquid
- Wash stations
- Contamination
Specifications
- Capacity
- Dimensions
- Environmental requirements
- Compatible solutions
- Substrates
Answers
Purchase
- Cost
- How much does the instrument cost?
- After we outlined your specific application you will get a quotation for a instrument configuration that matches your request best.
- Delivery
- What is the delivery time?
- Delivery time is dependent on location, normally taking place within 3 months of the sale. We will endeavor to have the instrument delivered to you and ready to use in the shortest possible time.
- Installation
- Will a technician perform installation of the instrument?
- Yes. Installation will be performed by an experienced technician on delivery. Installation costs are usualy included in the cost of the instrument for sales within Germany, however an additional cost will applied for sales outside Germany.
- Warranty
- Is there a warranty? How long is it for? What does it cover?
- The warranyt includes a 12 month (1 year) warranty, covering all mechanical and electrical components (consumables not included). This warranty can be extended for an additional cost.
- Options
- Is it possible to keep my samples cool throughout the experiment? What about heating?
- Yes. Platform temperature control (cooling and/or heating modules for source plate and/or substrate trays) are available as an option.
- What options are available?
- Platform temperature control (cooling and/or heating modules are available for source plate and/or substrate trays
- System liquid control module (monitors system liquid consumption and alerts user when attention is required)
- SMS notification (to inform user of experiment run status)
- Remote video monitoring (a surveillance system allowing visualization of the instrument from a remote location)
- Air humidity controll (for assistance in the creation of an optimal operation environment)
- HEPA filter systems sourced enclosure (for reducing contamination possibilities)
Training and Support
- Training
- Are any training courses available?
- Personalized training is available at an additional cost to the customer. Training is available at any time (not only upon initial purchase); and can be tailored to suit customer needs. Please contact us for more information.
- Support
- What support is available if I have trouble using the instrument?
- There are a number of options available. Every instrument sold comes with a comprehensive user manual, which should answer the majority of your questions. Technical support is also available via email (support@m2-automation.de), or additionally you can contact us any time and speak to technical support personally (see the contact details in the back of your user manual).
- Is the manual available online?
- Currently the user manual is not available online, however if there is sufficient customer demand this may be implemented in the future.
Applications and Software
- Applications
- What sort of applications are typically suited to the instruments?
- To cater for the ever-developing nature of the biotechnology industry, instrumentONE and instrumentTWO have been designed to be highly flexible and thus suitable for a broad range of applications including (but not limited to):
- Generating microarrays of a diverse range of biological samples (proteins, nucleic acids, lipids, cell-based solutions, buffers, etc…)
- MALDI-MS applications (sample preparation, conditioning, etc…)
- Low volume applications for rare or precious samples (enzyme addition, sample labeling, reagent mixing, etc…)
- Screening assays or other micro-array based analyses
- Accurate dilution series, etc…
- Software
- Is the software easy to use?
- Yes. The instruments are controlled by comprehensive yet simple, easy-to-use software, making experiment set-up effortless. The software is largely image-based, reflecting the instrument layout and providing a self-explanatory, systematic work-flow to create an experiment.
- How flexible is the software?
- The instruments are driven by specially designed software, flexible enough to cater for a broad range of applications, yet able to meet individual specific needs, whether it be creating customized wash procedures or personalized array layouts.
- Can I design my own micro-array patterns?
- Yes. The software is very flexible – you can design not only the size and shape of the array, but where it is positioned on the target. The mapping of the samples (distribution of samples from the source plate to the substrate) is assigned by the user during experiment set-up.
- If we were to purchase an instrument, there would be multiple users. Is there an easy way to keep the work of all users separate?
- Yes. Password protected user profiles can be created, separating the work of multiple users and providing clear, uncomplicated structure for each user.
Accuracy and Reproducibility
- Positioning accuracy
- How can I ensure my arrays are correctly positioned on the substrate?
- There are two ways: A fully automated substrate recognition is featured by non transparent substrates. If the head camera imaging system is not able to detect the difference between the substrate and the background the user has to teach the substrate start points.
- How dense am I able to print my arrays?
- This is strongly dependent on the properties of your sample solution and also the type of substrate. It is not limited by the software, which will allow as small as 1µm between features.
- How precise is the instrument’s positioning system?
- The motion system has scalable accuracy:
- XY motion to +/- 5µm instrumentONE
- XY motion to +/- 20µm instrumentTWO
- Z motion to +/- 10µm instrumetnONE
- Z motion to +/- 20µm instrumentTWO
- What does scalable accuracy mean?
- Scalable accuracy means that the positioning resolution of the instrument is variable according to the needed accuracy. For maximum positioning resolution the movement system is reduced to a percentage of maximum speed (user controlled). If the user increases speed (for example to perform a high throughput operation), the positioning resolution will be compromised in proportion with the increase in speed.
- Spot recovery
- Can missed spots be recovered?
- Missed spots can be recovered by creating a corrective experiment including only the missing spots. This is easy to do using the ‘duplicate’ feature in the instrument software and removing information relating to the correctly dispensed samples.
- Can missed spots be automatically detected?
- As a result of variable substrate surfaces, automated detection of missed spots is difficult. Currently this feature is only available, on suitable substrate surfaces coupled with visible sample spots (spots showing good contrast and detectable using the overhead camera).
- Reproducibility
- How reproducible is the size and shape of the sample spots?
- Reproducibility of spot size and spot shape is strongly dependant on the properties of the sample solution and also the type of substrate. Since instrumentONE and instrumentTWO supporting single jet technology the given droplet volume is very reproducable and the variation is less than 10%.
Liquid Handling
- Dispensing
- What is the advantage of a non-contact system? What is a dual-jet technology?
- In a non-contact system the dispensing device never touches the substrate, significantly reducing the possibility of contamination and also resulting in less ‘wear and tear’, prolonging the life-span of the dispensing device. When going from one substrate to the next, a non-contact system requires no washing, greatly improving the speed of the instrument. In addition to this, the risk of disrupting the substrate surface is eliminated, opening the door for the use of a wide range of delicate and custom designed substrates.
Depending on the required deposition volume, M2-Automation offers piezo and solenoid driven micro-dispenser devices that best suit your application. Both types of micro-dispensing devices and all necessary components for their operation can be integrated into instrumentONE and instrumentTWO. For wide volume range applications we are offering our dual-jet technology – both piezo and solenoid micro-dispenser technology is easily interchangeable by the user.
- How do I know that the droplet is correctly aligned?
- An optional automated droplet analysis and correction system (3 dimensional droplet detection)) allows for the precision control of all dispensing operations. The system utilizes two perpendicularly aligned cameras, enabling true 3-dimensional analysis of droplet trajectory. Hence droplet alignment can be adjusted to ensure a precise, accurate array.
- Does the instrument come supplied with dispensing devices? Why single jet technology?
- Yes, the instrument comes supplied with one dispensing devices. Spare devices can be supplied at an additional cost.
M2-Automation is unsing single jet technology because multi-jet dispenser heads suffer from high maintenance (clocking of single channels, alignment problems from jet to jet, multiple tubing systems with gas bubble problems (even with a degasser), droplet size variation between jets, etc.). In addition to this, array layout is limited if a multi-jet dispenser head is set to optimal performance (when jet to jet spacing does not match the pattern layout extra axis strokes are needed to compensate for this flaw).
- Where do I purchase extra dispensing devices form?
- Extra dispensing devices can be purchased at M2-Automation and their co-operation partners. Please refer to the contact details listed in the back of your user manual
- Are the dispensing devices easy to replace? Can a customer replace the device or is a technician required?
- Yes, device replacement is a simple procedure which can be easily performed by the customer. Simply follow the instructions provided in the user manual.
- System liquid
- What solution should be used for system liquid?
- System liquid is HPLC grade water (or equivalent), and should be filtered to 0.2µm. It is important that the system liquid contains no air bubbles and hence should be degassed regularly to ensure reliable dispenser operation.
- Wash station
- Can I decide what solutions I want to use for the wash station?
- Yes. Generally the wash station will use de-ionized water (free of particulates); however other wash solutions can be used following the chemical compatibility. Contact M2-Automation for the “Chemical Compatibility Manual” to check your wash solution to confirm a safe operation.
- Contamination
- How does the instruments minimalize the possibility of cross-contamination between samples?
- Wash procedures are a standard part of every experiment and are implemented between the dispensing of every sample. Wash procedures are user-defined, thus providing the customer with the flexibility to create sample-specific wash procedures, ensuring cross-contamination is not a problem. Three basic components work together to ensure the cleanliness of the micro-dispensing device. These are:
- Flushing the inside of the capillary with a strong flow
- A separate flow (from below) is used to wash outer surfaces
- Ultrasonication (high frequency vibrations assist in the wash process)
Specifications
- Capacity
- What is the source plate capacity?
- instrumentONE features one/two (instrumentTWO features one) source plate trays, both accepting an MTP-sized substrate (96 or 384-well microtitre plate). However, note that the number of source plates that can be used in an experiment is not limited by physical capacity. The software accepts more than two source plates, the user is prompted to change plates as required during the experiment run.
- What is the substrate capacity?
- The instrumentONE platform features 5/4 MTP-sized substrate trays (or equivalently 20/16 slides), intrumentTWO platform features 1 or 2 MTP-sized tray/s.
- Can the instrument be used for high throughput operations?
- Yes. instrumentONE is capable of handling samples quickly and efficiently. The high performance stage system in combintion with the synchronized sample deposition is able to run experiments in high speed. More than 10 sample depositions per second are possible.
- What are the minimum and maximum volumes that can be aspirated or dispensed?
- The minimum volume for aspiration is 1µL. However note that for some solutions (for example, those with high salt content) dilution via osmosis is likely to occur at the system liquid/sample interface. Thus when aspirating very small sample volumes (such as 1µL), it is recommended to first aspirate a volume of buffer to ‘protect’ the sample from being diluted.
- The minimum volume that can be dispensed with a piezo element driven micro-dispenser is a single droplet, approximately equivalent to 20pL. With a solenoid driven micro-dispenser it is 20nL
- There is no limit to the maximum volume that can be aspirated or dispensed, however for piezo element driven micro-dispenser it is recommended that no more than 25µL is aspirated at any one time, as any volume greater than this will contact the fittings and tubing leading back to the liquid handling system, risking cross-contamination. For solenoid driven micro-dispenser it is purely dependant on the length of the used tubing that connects to the system liquid bottle. Up to 500µL are not a problem.
- Dimensions
- What are the instrument dimensions?
- instrumentONE instrument itself (working platform):
- Height = 120 cm
- Width = 70 cm
- Depth = 65 cm
- instrumentTWO instrument itself (working platform):
- Height = 59 cm
- Width = 50 cm
- Depth = 55 cm
- How much space will the instrument occupy in the laboratory?
- The total working area strongly depends on the configuration and therewith the enclosure of the instrument. Contact M2-Automation for details!
- Environmental requirements
- Is it necessary to have a clean room environment?
- No, a clean room environment is not necessary, however a HEPA filter system sourced enclosure is recommended and is available as an optional extra.
- Is controlled temperature required ?
- Controlled temperature is not necessary, but recommended for best results. Platform temperature control (heating and/or cooling modules for source plate and/or substrate trays) is available as an optional extra to assist in maintaining sample integrity.
- Is controlled humidity required?
- A controlled relative humidity of 30% – 40% is recommended for best results. An air humidifier is available as an optional extra and is seperated from the instruments enclosure sourcing the complete room to provide a homogenoius environment.
- Compatible solutions
- What sample solutions are compatible for use with the instruments?
- The instruments are suitable for use with a wide variety of solutions, including many proteins, nucleic acids, buffers and other solutions. Solutions containing particulates are not suitable (unless these can be filtered prior to introduction to the system) for piezo driven micro-dispenser but in most cases effortless to handle with solenoid driven micro-dispenser.
- Substrates
- What types of substrates can I use with the instruments?
- Multiple substrate formats are supported including MTP-sized substrates (such as 384 or 96 well microtitre plates and MALDI-MS target plates) which can be fitted directly to the substrate trays on the platform. Non-MTP sized targets such as slides (various formats), porous or non-porous substrates and custom designed substrates (for example, membrane-coated or gel-based substrates, etc…) utilize substrate holders to correctly position the substrates.
- I am using non-standard sized substrates, does you instrument support these?
- Yes, customers are able to purchase a variety of substrate holders to suit their needs. If you have an unusual sized substrate we would be pleased to design a customized substrate tray for you.
- How are the substrates held in place on the platform?
- The platform design utilizes a unique positioning system, holding the substrates perfectly in place, allowing for easy insertion and removal, without unnecessary force.
- Can I dispense to different substrate types from one source plate?
- Within one experiment, all substrates must be of the same type. However, it is fast and easy to create multiple experiments from the one source plate and run these experiments consecutively.
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