Molecular Devices FLIPR Tetra, User Manual

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System Hardware Features
Overview of FLIPR Tetra System Hardware Features
The FLIPR
®
Tetra System consists of a cabinet 39” (965 mm) wide  27”
(686 mm) deep  70” (1780 mm) high, with a number of components,
including wash bottles, Cell Suspension module, chiller, host computer
and monitor, outside the cabinet.
The cabinet has two compartments, top and bottom, accessed by
manual doors on the front of the cabinet.
A ‘five-position stage’ located in the top compartment is where read
and source plates are positioned during an experiment. There are also
positions for tips and tip washing, as well as the Cell Suspension
reservoir.
The TETRAcycler
™
plate shuttle on the back wall of the top
compartment can be used for robotically controlled carriage of
compound or read plates and tips in and out of the cabinet during
experiments. Plates are delivered to and from a landing pad outside the
cabinet on the left hand side.
Mounted on the back wall of the top compartment, above the
TETRAcycler, is the pipettor. The pipettor transfers compounds from
source plates to the read plate, and accesses the tip loading and tip
washing positions. When the Cell Suspension option is installed, the
pipettor also transfers cells in suspension from the Cell Reservoir to the
read plate.
The bottom, ‘dry’, compartment, houses the FLIPR
®
Tetra System
optics and an embedded computer for control of basic system
functions. Two LED excitation modules, to the left and right, direct light
up onto the base of the read plate, in the five-position stage above.
Light emitted from the read plate passes down through emission filters
directly below the plate to the camera (either the Standard EMCCD
camera or the Aequorin ICCD camera).
The system computer—running
ScreenWorks
®
Software, through which
all user interaction with the system occurs—is attached to the outside
right-hand side of the cabinet. Monitor and keyboard are on an
adjustable arm attached on the right-hand side of the cabinet front.
The Cell Suspension module, if installed, is also mounted on the lower
right side of the instrument. This external module keeps the cells in
suspension and is connected via internal tubing to a Cell Reservoir that
is installed in Position 4 (Source Plate 3). The cells are kept in
suspension via stirring and are pumped into the reservoir for transfer to
the read plate. Up to 4 additional fluid bottles can also be connected to
the reservoir for cleaning purposes.