Bio-Rad PDQuest 2-D Analysis Software - Manual (Page 7)

1.10 System Description
Fig. 1. The ProteomeWorks Plus Spot Cutter.
• The Spot Cutter
Bench footprint of 50 x 50 cm with a curving camera support arm holding a camera over
the platform of the work surface. Under platform lights used for gel imaging, an x,y arm
supporting the cutting head mechanism, the gel or PVDF cutting area, a microtiter plate
holding area, wash well area containing 4 wash tubes.
• The Camera
Cooled CCD camera, 1392 x 1040 imaging pixels, 12 bit ADC
• Working Surface
The working surface is shown in Appendix B and consists of two main areas, the cutting
surface and the microtiter plate holder / wash wells area. In addition there is also a bubble
level which is used to ensure the cutting surface is level.
• Cutting Surface
The cutting platform dimensions are 30 x 27 cm. The cutting tip can access an area of
26 cm x 24 cm within this 30 x 27 cm area. The imaging area is approximately 26 x 21 cm.
The design of the system allows the ProteomeWorks Plus spot cutter to cut spots from
the protein resolving area of any commercially available gel type. The platform area was
designed to accommodate the entire gel without the need for trimming the gel to fit the
cutting platform. The diagram below shows the orientation of the cutting area within the
platform. Gels should be positioned against the right wall of the cutting platform, next to
the microtiter plate holder, and centered vertically in the platform.
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