Tecan Trading Ag

Wolfgang Fuchs

Wolfgang Streit

Juha Koota

Harald Gebetsroither

Andreas Gfrörer

Andreas Erlbacher

Lutz Niggl

Robert Marsche

Alois Schausberger

Setting method for microplate washing devices has a receptacle for receiving a microplate and a washing head having washing cannulas. The cannulas are in an array corresponding to a well array with lowermost ends define a work plane. This work plane is parallel to a reference plane. In a first phase, the receptacle and/or washing head are moved together until the lowermost ends of the cannulas touch a surface defining the reference plane. A sensor device has a controller linked thereto and from the sensor device is registered using the controller and a relative altitude value is determined therewith, which indicates touching of the surface by the lowermost ends of the cannulas or for determining the position of this surface. Based on this, an active altitude of the lowermost ends of the washing cannulas in relation to an inner surface of the well bottoms of a microplate is determined.

Setting method for microplate washing devices

Method for registering filling potential of a waste container of a microplate washing device has a needle for aspirating liquids, a waste container, a pump for generating a partial vacuum and a pressure sensor for determining air pressure in the container, a sensor controller, and a first valve for blocking the line between the needle and the waste container. The pump and needle are connected to the container and the method includes closing the first valve, generating a partial vacuum in a test range, closing a further valve between the container and the pump, opening the first valve, triggering a partial vacuum dissipation in the container, measuring a test time for the partial vacuum dissipation in the test range, comparing the test time to a known threshold time, and deciding that the waste container is fillable or not.

Method for registering the filling potential of a waste container of microplate washing devices

Method has laser scanner for pixel-precise imaging of fluorescent samples having fluorescent dyes. The scanner has sample table, laser and first optical system providing laser beam for exciting the samples, scanner head with deflecting element for scanning sample, first lens, second optical system for forwarding emission beams triggered by the laser beam and deflected by first lens and deflecting element to a detector, position encoder emitting position signals indicating location of the scanner head, electronic element for filtering the detector signals with a time constant and an A/D converter for digitizing the filtered detector signals. The filtered detector signals and the position encoder signals are acquired independently, in parallel and continuously by a computer and are related to a common time base, the A/D conversion being carried out often so that each pixel of an image is always assigned more than one data point.

Data acquisition method using a laser scanner

Microplate reader () with a computer for controlling the components of said microplate reader (), comprising a light source () for emitting light for irradiating samples () or transmitting light through samples (), and a filter slide () situated in the excitation or detection beam path. The microplate reader () in accordance with the invention is characterized in that said filter slide () comprises an electronic memory () for recording and/or retrieving filter-specific data, with said filter-specific data comprising the number and intensity of the light flashes impinging upon a certain filter () of said filter slide () and/or the intensity and duration of all exposures performed, and that said filter slide () comprises a contact point () jointly with the microplate reader () for transmitting such filter-specific data from the computer to the electronic memory () of the filter slide () and for retrieving such filter-specific data with the computer. According to the method in accordance with the invention for acquiring filter-specific data in a filter slide () of such a microplate reader (), filter-specific data which comprise the number and intensity of the light flashes impinging upon a specific filter () of said filter slide () and/or the intensity and duration of all exposures performed are transmitted by the computer via a contact point common to said filter slide () and the microplate reader () to an electronic memory () of said filter slide () and/or are retrieved with the computer from said electronic memory ().

Microplate reader with intelligent filter slide

An apparatus with a flash lamp can trigger a flash of light by application of an ignition pulse. The apparatus encompasses a first capacitor, a second capacitor, a switching element and a control circuit. The first capacitor, second capacitor and switching element are arranged in a network in such a way that the switching element is located on the low side of a power circuit. The apparatus can be operated in a first mode and a second mode by actuating the control circuit. In the first mode the first capacitor is discharged by the flash lamp, triggering a flash of light of high energy. In the second mode the second capacitor is discharged by the flash lamp and a flash of light of low energy is triggered.

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Salzburg, Austria

Wolfgang Fuchs