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Instrument Components
The main components of the GenePix
®
4000B Microarray Scanner are
described below.
Protective enclosure
The protective enclosure protects the user from exposure to laser
radiation, high voltage, and moving parts.
Optics
The GenePix 4000B Microarray Scanner uses a laser-excitation based
fluorescence scanning and imaging system. The optical system consists
of excitation light, mirrors, lenses, filters, and photo-detection.
Lasers
In the GenePix 4000B Microarray Scanner, laser excitation is provided
by individual 532 nm and 635 nm lasers. These wavelengths
correspond to the ideal wavelengths used to excite the fluorophores
Cy3 and Cy5 (GE Healthcare), or other fluorophores with similar
fluorescent characteristics. The individual lasers have been selected
because of their superior optical performance and reliability. Since the
performance of such lasers is often sensitive to external temperature
fluctuations, the scanner uses an active temperature stabilization
design to minimize temperature-based laser fluctuations. The GenePix
4000B Microarray Scanner automatically corrects fluorescent intensity
for normal variations on a pixel-by-pixel basis.
With the GenePix 4000B Microarray Scanner, laser power can be set to
100%, 33%, or 10% of the total laser output. This feature can be used
when the fluorescence of the sample is too bright, or when
photobleaching is a problem.
WARNING! Laser Hazard! Do not remove the protective
enclosure. Operating the scanner with the protective enclosure
removed exposes the user to laser radiation.
GenePix_4000B.book Page 25 Friday, October 22, 2010 3:07 PM
