title: Automated streak-seeding with micromachined silicon tools.
abstract: This report presents a new approach to streak-seeding based on custom-designed silicon microtools. Experimental data show that the microtools produce similar results to the commonly used boar bristles. One advantage to using silicon is that it is rigid and can easily serve as an accurately calibrated end-effector on a micro-robotic system. Additionally, the fabrication technology allows the production of microtools of various shapes and sizes. A working prototype of an automatic streak-seeding system based on these microtools was built and successfully applied for protein crystallization.
authors.affiliation: Department of Computer Science, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA. atanas@cs.columbia.edu
authors.forename: Atanas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Georgiev
authors.forename: Sergey
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Vorobiev
authors.forename: William
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Edstrom
authors.forename: Ting
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Song
authors.forename: Andrew
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Laine
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hunt
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Allen
mesh_terms: D001331:Automation; D003460:Crystallization; D018360:Crystallography, X-Ray / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D004867:Equipment Design; D023281:Genomics; D006193:Haemophilus influenzae / Q000378:metabolism; D008567:Membranes, Artificial; D036103:Nanotechnology; D040901:Proteomics; D012825:Silicon / Q000737:chemistry*; D014961:X-Ray Diffraction; D016959:Xanthomonas campestris / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D008567:Membranes, Artificial; D012825:Silicon