Compact Microarrayer XactII™

Microplate Printing

Xtend™ Microarray Pins

High Capacity Arrayer THOMAS™

Xpand™ Membrane Holders

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Xact Microplate Arrayer

Part Number 011 - Microplate Configuration 

Discontinued in the USA. Replaced with XactII p/n 011A.                         

 View Xact Microplate Arrayer video clip (WMV, 55 sec, 2.4 Mb)

HIGHLIGHTS
- Prints up to 25x25 spot arrays on bottom of standard 96-well plates with Xtend metal-ceramic printing pins.

- Maintains humidity inside the cabinet with 2% accuracy.

- Accommodates 2 delivery plates and 1 source plate.

- No software upgrades required.

- Variable speed of deposition. Does not damage or scratch well bottoms.

- Can be transformed to standard Slide version without re-calibration.

- Keeps all features and precision of the standard Slide version of the system.

MICROARRAYS PRODUCED WITH XACT MICROPLATE ARRAYER (Courtesy of the Institute of Epidemiology)

Click on the link  for high resolution image

Images of a 100 spot (10x10) oligo nucleotide array printed in 96 well plate.
Hybridization was made with UTP-biotin labeled probe.

SPECIFICATIONS

Performance
- Printing Method: Contact printing. Proprietary head and printing pins are available. The system can accommodate heads from other vendors.
- Number of printing pins: 1-4 in various patterns with the standard LabNEXT printing head.
- Pin spacing: 9 mm.
- Delivery plate capacity: two 96-well microplates.
- Source plates capacity: 1 plate, 96 or 384 well format.
- Pin cleaning technology: fluid stream washing, vacuum drying.
- Print layouts: 96 identical microarrays up to 25x25 spots on the bottoms of the wells of two 96-well microplates.
- Throughput: 3 min per print cycle (Print cycle: Wash, Dry, Pick-up, Deposition at 96 wells of 2 delivery microplates). 192 25x25 arrays can be printed in 31h of uninterruptible operations.

- Pin deposition speed: programmatically controlled. From 500mm/sec to 0.5 mm/sec. Lower speed required for plates with sensible well bottoms.
- Environmental Control: on-board electronic humidifier. Maintains relative humidity inside the system cabinet in the range of 40-80% with 2% precision.

Mechanical
- Accessible operating area: L 295mm, W 170mm, H 70mm
- Resolution: X, Y - 0.002 mm, Z - 0.005 mm (spacing between two nearest possible spots)
- Absolute accuracy: X, Y - 0.05 mm, Z - 0.05 mm. (accuracy of positioning the most remote from the origin spots within the work area)
- Repeatability within the same run: X, Y - 0.006 mm, Z - 0.01 mm (accuracy of returning to the same spot without run interruption.)
- Repeatability after  run interruption: X, Y - 0.01 mm, Z - 0.01 mm (accuracy of returning to the same spot after the system has been stopped and re-initialized)

Environmental
- Dimensions: W18" X D14" X H9" (457mm X 355mm X 229mm)
- Power supply: 110V-220V AC
- Lab facilities: Vacuum. Portable vacuum pump can be used.
- Computer interface: USB
- Computer requirements: Windows 2000/XP, USB port.

SOFTWARE FEATURES

Xact Microplate Version features the same flexibility and simplicity as the original slide version. In fact no software upgrade is necessary at all. The software handles specifics of the layouts of the "plate microarrays" via settings accessible through the user interface.

Visual Plate Microarray Design

Click on the link for high resolution picture

The system allow preview of the microarray layout. At the design stage it is possible to define printing pattern, spot repetitions and pickup sequence and other important parameters of the microarray. The software offers manual and automated methods of microarray design. In the automated mode the most rational use of microarray surface prompted. Once created the microarray design can be saved in the computer repository and used for other printing jobs.