Cell Isolation

Procedure

Picks up and places a cell.

Two pick-up modes are available, in-contact pick-up for lightly adherent cells and aspiration pick-up for cells in suspension.

Behaviour over time of a pick-up done by aspiration and place operation. If pick-up mode is selected, the probe remains in contact with the object after approach and applies the configured pressure for the desired amount of time instead of retracting immediately.

Pick

Pick-Up Mode

This step approaches towards the surface and applies the configured vacuum once the probe touches the selected cell. After the configured duration expired, the system retracts from the surface again.

Aspiration Mode

This step searches for surface contact, retracts and supports the user to ‘fish’ for cells. One a cell is attached to the probe, it applies a transfer pressure and moves to the selected destination well’s center.

Selecting the target position can be done within the workflow by clicking on the desired well. Already processed wells are marked with green color. The target well to move to next is marked blue and its name indicated below.

Place

The deposition step performs a pre-release of the cell and then approaches to the surface according to the configured parameters. Afterwards, the probe hovers slightly above the surface for the configured duration and then slowly retracts by the configured distance and increasing the pressure. An additional lateral motion is applied to make it simpler to visually confirm that the operation succeeded.

Flush

Safety step to remove potentially attached cells or debris.

Parameters

Parameter	Description
Surface Approach Speed	How fast the probe approaches and retracts
Surface Approach Setpoint	The probe deflection value at which the approach will be stopped
Cell Height	Distance by which the probe will be retracted after approach (Aspirate only)
Pick Duration	How long probe and object remain in contact (Pick-up only)
Pick Pressure	Pressure to be applied during contact (Pick-up only)
Holding Pressure	The pressure applied during transfer
Deposition Contact Force	The probe deflection value at which the approach will be stopped
Release Pressure	Pressure applied after approach to detach the cell
Contact Time	Duration after approach and before retraction for which probe remains idle
Flushing Pressure	Overpressure to apply for cleaning the probe and its channel
Flushing Time	Duration during which Flushing Pressure is applied