Automated streak-seeding with micromachined silicon tools.
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.
Georgiev
Atanas
A
Department of Computer Science, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA. atanas@cs.columbia.edu
Vorobiev
Sergey
S
Edstrom
William
W
Song
Ting
T
Laine
Andrew
A
Hunt
John
J
Allen
Peter
P
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
D008567:Membranes, Artificial; D012825:Silicon