Page 4 - TechTalk Videos

The Peri-Star Pro is a popular peristaltic pump. Here we will show you how to install the tubing in the pump head so that you can use the pump.

1. First, remove the tubing fixture by pressing the Locking Tab on the left side of the fixture and pulling the fixture open.

2. Then pull the tubing through the fixture. Make sure the tubing is straight inside the fixture with no kinks.
   
   

3. Remount the fixture on the pump head. The rounded notch is on the right side of the fixture, and it fits against a steel rod on the Pump Head. When the other end of the fixture is pushed into place, the locking notch will snap into place against the inside of the Locking Tab.

4. Turn the Adjusting Screw, if necessary, to get a smooth flow.

If you have any questions about your Peri-Star Pro, just give us a call.

Buy Peri-Star Pro Peristaltic Pump

The Peri-Star Pro is a popular peristaltic pump. Here we will show how to set the system parameters for your application.

Using the Control Knob to Navigate the Menu

Press the Control Knob to enter the setup mode in the main menu, then rotate the Control Knob to toggle between the four functions. Press the Control Knob again when you get to System Setting. Turning the Control Knob toggles between the submenu items.

Define System Parameters

1. Tubing ID is the first submenu. To change tubing inside diameter, click the Control Knob. After clicking, a list of tubing IDs appears. Turn to the desired tubing ID and click the Control Knob to select it.
2. Test Time sets the flow time when performing a calibration. To change the time, click the Control Knob on this submenu item, then turn the Control Knob to the desired test time. Click the Control Knob to select it.
3. Remote enables or disables the external remote-control module. When this menu option is enabled, you may use an external remote-control...more

Let’s look at the PUL-1000, a microprocessor controlled, four-stage, horizontal puller for making glass micropipettes or microelectrodes. Here we will examine the design of the unit.

Tempered Glass Lid

For safety, the lid should be closed whenever you are pulling glass or moving the unit.

Capillary Glass Clamp Pads

These two silicone clamp pads securely hold the glass when you are pulling pipettes. Check the glass OD and install appropriate pads accordingly.

Heating Filament

The PUL-1000 comes with a circular platinum/iridium box filament, which may be easily replaced with a 2.5 x 2.5 mm box filament (WPI #13834).

Glass Groove

Slide a single piece of capillary glass into the groove from one side or the other. The groove helps line up the glass to slide easily through the filament and hold it in the proper position during pulling.

Carriage

The carriage should move freely when the clamps are unlocked. It slides apart as the glass is pulled. Then, you can manually slide the two ends...more

Vernier scales can be used on microscopes, stereotaxic frames and micromanipulators. The vernier scale was invented by French mathematician Pierre Vernier in 1631 as an upgrade on Pedro Nunes' measurement system for precision astrolobes. With a main scale and a sliding secondary scale, a vernier is used for making precise measurements. 

How a Vernier Scale Works

The vernier scale is marked with divisions slightly smaller than the divisions of the main scale. For example, a vernier scale could have 11 markings for every 10 on the main scale. That's 10 divisions on the vernier scale for every 9 on the main scale. This means that the vernier divisions are each 90% of the main scale divisions. In this case, the 0-line and the 10-line on the vernier could pair up with marks on the main scale, but none of the other divisions on the vernier would match a line of the main scale. For example, the 0 and 10-lines of the vernier scale could pair up with the 0 and 9-lines on the main scale...more

A peristaltic pump is a popular appliance in any laboratory. Here you will find some tips for choosing the correct tubing to use for your application with your Peri-Star Pro peristaltic pump.

Size (ID) of Tubing

In a peristaltic pump, the flow rate is determined by both the size of the tubing and the rotor speed. WPI provides two sizes of silicone tubing:

• 1/16-inch ID tubing for low flow rate at 0.2-18mL/min.
• 1/4-inch ID tubing for high flow rate at 3.5-280mL/min.

Types of Tubing

• Silicone tubing has a long service life and good chemical compatibility for aqueous and many organic solvents.
• Fluoroelastomer tubing should be used when pumping halogenated solvents.
• Vinyl tubing is used only with chemically compatible solvents.

If you have any questions about tubing for your Peri-Star Pro, just give us a call.

Buy Peri-Star Pro Peristaltic Pump

When using the Peri-Star Pro, solutions pumped should never come into contact with the pump. Here we will give you some guidelines for operating your peristaltic pump in a way that is safe for both the laboratory personnel and for the machinery.

Some solvents can permanently damage a peristaltic pump. The following rules are recommended to avoid leakage when running your Peri-Star Pro peristaltic pump.

• Follow safety rules when handling aggressive solvents.
• Pull a fresh section of tubing into the tubing fixtures regularly. If the pump gets heavy use, do this weekly.
• A fresh section of tubing should be pulled through the pump rollers before the pump is left to run unattended.
• Change the tubing immediately, if it is visibly worn.
• Be sure the tubing used is compatible with the solution being pumped.
• Always turn off the power and unplug the power cord when changing the tubing.

If you have any questions about your Peri-Star Pro, just give us a call.

Buy Peri-Star Pro Peristaltic Pump

A peristaltic pump is a type of positive displacement pump used for pumping a variety of fluids, particularly clean, sterile or aggressive fluids. Here are five reasons to choose the Peri-Star Pro peristaltic pump.

1. The fluid contacts only the interior of the flexible tube and thus avoids contamination from the pump or damage to the pump. This makes it easy to maintain and clean.

2. The Peri-Star Pro peristaltic pump provides accurate and precise fluid delivery. It can run at flow rates from 0.1mL/min. to 280mL/min. with better than 0.5% accuracy.

3. Peri-Star Pro has a backlit digital LCD display and a water-resistant membrane keypad.

4. A unique planetary gear design with eight actively driven rollers (four rollers in the higher flow rate model), together with independent fine adjustment of tubing compression, increases flow accuracy and prolongs tubing life.

5. The user-friendly interface makes the setup, calibration and operation easy and problem-free.

If you have any questions about the Peri-Star...more

WPI’s disposable scalpels come in many styles and are ideal for students, researchers, and crafters. Here we will describe some of the uses for these popular blades.

Scalpel blades come in a variety of shapes so that you can choose the ones best suited to your application.

The #10 blade is a commonly used blade for surgical applications. It is used for making large incisions through skin and subcutaneous tissues. It is similar to the #20 blade, which is somewhat larger. The #20 blade is used for larger incisions through thicker tissues or for dissection of the soft tissues in larger animals.

Blades #10, 15, 20, 21, 22, 23 and 24 are all curved and said to have a "belly." They are all used for making incisions. The sharpest area on these blades is the apex of curve at the belly. This is the spot on the blade which is used for making the incision. Since the #15 is the smallest of these belly blades, it is often used for small animal surgery where short, precise incisions are...more

NanoFil™ is a unique low volume syringe developed for improved microinjection in mice and other small animals. RPE and IO kits are specially designed for “hands-free” and oil-free sub-microliter injection. Originally developed for retinal pigment epithelium and intraocular injection, they can also be used for other applications.

The NanoFil syringe system utilizes a seal system that is based on a 0.46 mm shank diameter. Any needle or tubing with an outside diameter of 0.46 mm should fit the NanoFil’s seal system. Here is how to install your needle in a way that prevents damage to the gasket and keeps your needles straight.

PRO TIP: Always use surgical gloves to prevent the oils from your skin from affecting the needle or the gasket.

1. To change or install a needle, loosen the screw cap by turning it counterclockwise to release the compression of the seal. If there is a needle in place, it should pull out easily.
   
   
2. Remove the screw cap and the gasket from the syringe.
   
   
3. Install...more

PUL-1000 is a microprocessor controlled, four-stage, horizontal puller for making glass micropipettes or microelectrodes used in intracellular recording, patch clamp, microperfusion and microinjection. The PUL-1000 is capable of producing a vast array of pipette shapes, such as a long graduated taper, a short graduated taper and a short taper bee stingers. Here's a quick introduction the PUL-1000 research puller.

The PUL-1000 puller was designed with tight mechanical specifications and precision electronics for complete control of the pulling process and accurate reproducibility. It offers programmable sequences of up to four steps with heating, force, movement and cooling time. A glass capillary is heated by a platinum/iridium filament and pulled by a controlled force. The PUL-1000 is capable of producing a vast array of pipette shapes, such as a long graduated taper, a short graduated taper and a short taper bee stingers.

Programming

The settings for a 4-stage pull may be stored in...more

NanoFil™ is a unique low volume syringe developed for improved microinjection in mice and other small animals. It comes in both 10 and 100 microliter volumes and can be paired with a UMP3 UltraMicroPump for making accurate microliter injections. NanoFil stainless steel needles range in size from 33 to 36 gauge.

NanoFil™ is a unique low volume syringe developed for improved microinjection in mice and other small animals. It makes quantitative nanoliter injection much easier and more accurate than any other method.

NANOFIL is a 10microliter syringe, and NANOFIL-100 is a 100 µL syringe. The large volume of the syringe is useful for applications that require multiple injections. The speed of the flow at the needle of the NANOFIL-100 can be 10 times faster than the 10 µL NanoFil when used with UMP3 UltraMicroPump. The limitation of the 100 µL syringe is that the injection volume resolution is lower than that of the 10 µL syringe.

Reduced Needle Size and Dead Volume

The design reduces the...more

NanoFil™ is a unique low volume gas tight syringe developed for improved microinjection in mice and other small animals. Here we show you several ways in which the NanoFil can be used for making injections. You can install the syringe on WPI’s UMP3 UltraMicroPump, using SilFlex tubing and a holder, so you can accurately inject by hand. You can install it in a stereotaxic frame. You can also directly inject by hand.

NanoFil can be used in several different configurations:

1. Install it on WPI’s UMP3 UltraMicroPump, which allows nanoliter resolution and reproducibility. For neural system injection, you can mount the UMP3 on a stereotaxic frame.
   
   
2. You can use SilFlex tubing and a holder. Mount the needle on a small plastic holder and connected it to the NanoFil by a 35 cm length of flexible tubing. Then mount the NanoFil on the UMP3 pump. This lets you hold the animal in one hand and insert the needle with the other. When the needle reaches the desired location, activate the pump using the...more

NanoFil™ is a unique low volume syringe developed for improved microinjection in mice and other small animals. NanoFil needles are specially designed with a small outside diameter and spear point for shallow penetration and to cause the least amount of tissue damage. 

Specially designed tips as small as 36 gauge (110 micron OD) are offered in both blunt and beveled styles. These tips will cause less trauma to the tissue than any other form of micro syringe currently in use. NanoFil can be used with many forms of small tubing and tips coupled with the syringe barrel.

• The blunt tip is used for injection into soft tissue and when a uniform solution distribution is needed.
• The beveled style is used for applications that involve penetration of tough tissue.

Diffusion at the Tip Minimized

With a 36-gauge needle installed on the NanoFil, the error caused by diffusion at the tip is be reduced to the sub-nanoliter level, compared with the upper 10s of nanoliter range of 100 µm syringes...more

NanoFil™ is a unique low volume syringe developed for improved microinjection in mice and other small animals. During our field trials, the 35-gauge needle was scientists’ most popular and preferred NanoFil tip. The combination of its strength, length, durability and clogging resistance creates a solid balance.

The 33-gauge tip is similar to Hamilton's 7762 and 7803 series removable needles in both tip length and outer diameter. However, our beveled tip version is shorter, more durable, and penetrates better due to the special tri-surface grinding technique. 33-gauge tips used to be the smallest size sold, but our 35-gauge tip is much better for injections involving small animals, especially mice.

Reduce Penetration Depth by 80%

By choosing the 35-gauge tri-beveled NanoFil tips, you can reduce the depth of penetration by almost 80% when compared with Hamilton's 33-gauge, 10-degree beveled tip. The NanoFil penetration is 230 microns versus 348 for the Hamilton. The smaller tip size significantly...more

NanoFil™ is a unique low volume syringe developed for improved microinjection in mice and other small animals. Here we'll show you how to install your needle in a way that prevents damage to the gasket and keeps your needles straight.

The NanoFil syringe system utilizes a seal system that is based on a 0.46 mm shank diameter. Any needle or tubing with an outside diameter of 0.46 mm should fit the NanoFil’s seal system. Here is how to install your needle in a way that prevents damage to the gasket and keeps your needles straight.

PRO TIP: Always use surgical gloves to prevent the oils from your skin from affecting the needle or the gasket.

1. To change or install a needle, loosen the screw cap by turning it counterclockwise to release the compression of the seal. If there is a needle in place, it should pull out easily.
   
   
2. Remove the screw cap and the gasket from the syringe.
   
   
3. Install the replacement needle by pushing the shank of the needle into the open hole in the screw cap...more