Atmospheric control unit suits cell assay tasks

Available for the entire range of Omega microplate readers, this microprocessor-controlled ACU can regulate CO2 (up to 20 per cent) and O2 (up to 19 per cent) independently, making it unnecessary to change gas cylinders or piped gas supplies to reproduce certain physiological conditions needed for cell-based assays.

When used in combination with the Omega's other features, such as temperature control up to 65C and shaking (orbital, double orbital and linear), users can reproduce most physiological conditions, making cell-based assays more biologically relevant.

, The Omega series of microplate readers can measure multiple detection modes, including fluorescence polarisation (FP), fluorescence intensity, time-resolved fluorescence (TRF), TR-FRET, Alphatechnologies, high-performance luminescence and UV/Vis spectrometer-based absorbance.

Applications can be run in a dedicated mode or a combination of all modes to acquire all the data required in a single experiment.

The multimode capabilities, together with the atmospheric control unit, are especially advantageous for a variety of applications including mammalian cell assays, stem cell assays, hypoxia, cell viability, cell proliferation, migration studies, invasion assays, intracellular pH, angiogenesis, ischemia/reperfusion and many more.

Incorporating the ACU into an Omega microplate reader, extended cell based experiments can now even be performed without user intervention, providing a walk-away assay solution.