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The module for light beams transmission is a rectangular duct. Rectangular mirrors located in
the duct corners provide the optical pathway in a required direction.
The system of light locks provides an absolute isolation of the optical channel from external
light.
2.3. Control and Display System
The control and display system comprises a push-button panel for manual control of the
thermal block movement and the LCD screen indicating the process of amplification program
running (Fig. 4).
Push-button of on-screen menu
displays functions of other panel push-buttons within the
given operation mode.
The push-button of thermal block control
(the second one from the
left) is intended for launching the following operations:
opening and closing of the thermal block for placing the tubes into the thermal plate
before PCR running;
precise positioning of the thermal block under optical elements in their operating
position.
When the instrument operates under computer control, one can open or close the thermal
block using
and
buttons located under the button
in the
Running
window of RealTime_PCR
software.
LCD screen
displays information about an amplification program and the running process.
It shows the following information:
operator’s name;
date of the amplification program start;
Plate protocol number;
name of the amplification program;
instrument serial number;
quantity of conducted measurements;
amplification program timer;
instrument status on completion of an amplification program;
current temperature of the reaction mix;
description of the amplification program;
fluorescence measurement channels enabled;
optical measurement indicator;
indicator of the amplification program run status.
