Technology

Acumen ^eX3 is a unique laser scanning cytometer containing three lasers, 405nm, 488nm and 633nm, which ensure compatibility with a wide variety of  fluorescent probes.

The instrument operates by scanning a laser through a wide field of view lens across the bottom of a microplate or slide. The speed of data acquisition using Acumen ^eX3 is not affected by plate density and microplate types ranging from 24-well up to 3456-well (or 4 microscope slides) can all be rapidly analysed. Scanning resolutions may be set to as low as 0.5 micron where very detailed, or small object analysis is required.

The lasers fire sequentially to reduce crosstalk and give simultaneous detection in four photomultiplier tube (PMT) detectors, providing a maximum of 12 channels of content-rich data for true multiplexing at high throughputs. Acumen's maximum scanning resolution is equivalent to that achieved using a 20x microscope objective.

Whole well scanning

Acumen ^eX3 is equipped with a specialised scan wide field of view lens. Covering an area of 400mm² (equivalent to 4 wells of a 96-well plate), this lens can scan entire wells and report data for all cells in order to:

• generate statistically robust data from representative cell populations
• normalise biological responses to a total cell number
• permit the scanning of large objects such as C. elegans, or cell colonies without the need for image stitching

Cytometric analysis

Acumen ^eX3’s patented approach to data analysis employs cytometric principles, rather than image analysis. The lasers scan the entire field of view collecting intensity readings at regular intervals using the 4 PMTs. Thresholding algorithms identify all fluorescent intensities above the solution background for automatic object identification. Laser scanning data collection combined with cytometric data analysis represents an industry proven method for generating extremely fast and robust results.

 For further information on our screening services please contact us at sales@ttplabtech.com