SEM
It is our vision that new medical microdevices will soon replace large, complicate instrumentation now used in clinical laboratories by creating standard platforms that are made with the same manufacturing methods that have for the past three decades empowered the microelectronics industry. To help achieve this visions we are now creating a new generation of sensors that has the capacity to learn.
Rice NanoFabrication Facility
The Rice NanoFabrication Facility (RNF) features a class 100/1000 cleanroom and the tools necessary for micro- and nano-scale fabrication and characterization. The facility is located in the Abercrombie Engineering Laboratory on the Rice campus and is managed by the Shared Equipment Authority (SEA) and the Richard E. Smalley Institute.
Visit www.sea.rice.edu and www.cnst.rice.edu for more information.
Flow Cytometer
The FC500 flow cytometer delivers the capacity to conduct 5-color analysis using a dual(488nm/633nm)air-cooled laser. Flow cytometry offers "high-throughput" for automated quantification of cells and particles, which is able to analyze several thousand particles every second, in "real time," and can actively separate and isolate particles having specified properties.
Laminate Cutters
The FC500 Series delivers the capacity to conduct 5-color analysis using a dual(488nm/633nm)air-cooled laser configuration. Xurography is a fabrication method that is especially useful for microfluidic prototyping. This fabrication technique involves patterning thin films with a computer controlled cutting plotter fitted with a knife blade. Subsequently, the patterned layers are aligned, stacked, and bonded to create 3-D layered microfluidic devices. The process is extremely cost effective, rapid, and does not require a clean room, photolithography equipment, or chemicals. Typical plotting cutters offer high precision with addressable resolution down to 25µm.
Microassay Stations
Each microassay station consists of a conventional microscope (setup for fluorescence imaging), a light source (mercury or xenon), a charged coupling device (CCD) camera, fluidic delivery system (either peristaltic or syringe pumps), and a computer system.
Automated Assay Station
The automated assay stations are used to optimize the bead-based assays and select reagents for high performance chip-based assays.
This equipment is part of an assembly line that is used to create new chip ensembles that are customized for important diseases and health conditions.
Luminex Instrument
The Luminex 200 System is flow cytometry based analyzer platform that enables the multiplexed detection of up to 100 analytes using a microplate well. Numerous bioassays are compatible with the system, including nucleic acid, receptor-ligand, immunoassays and enzymatic assays.
PDMS Ovens
Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) is used to prototype microfluidic devices. A number of PDMS work stations are available in the laboratory, which include a ovens, vacuum equipment, and oxygen-plasma cleaners. Photolithography steps are typically accomplished Abercrombie Engineering Laboratory on the Rice campus.
ELISA
Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) is considered the “gold standard” for immunological analysis. Here an enzyme is measurable at very low concentrations by catalyzing the generation of a soluble colored product from a colorless precursor substrate. A single molecule of enzyme can catalyze the conversion of up to107 molecules of substrate per minute, greatly increasing the sensitivity of the assay compared to a label that produces just one signal event. Since the enzyme acts only as a catalyst, it brings about the molecular change in the substrate without itself being chemically altered. Enzymes can continue to convert the substrate until the reactants become limited or the reaction itself is terminated. The McDevitt Lab features two ELISA stations outfitted with Molecular Devices Spectra MAX plus Absorbance Microplate Readers and support equipment.
Biodot Drop Dispenser
A custom Biodot Aspirate and Dispense Platform (motor X, Y and Z-axes) is available for precise nano- to microliter drop placement as well as for microbead manipulation and loading into the BNC assay system.