Automated Cryo-Sample Preparation Tool is Easy to Use

A high-throughput tool will enable the physical fixation of biologic structures within ultra-thin vitrified ice layers so that samples can withstand the high voltages used in transmission electron microscopes (TEMs) long enough to acquire the necessary image.

The Mark IV is an easy-to-use system that features a newly-designed touchscreen user interface operated under a Linux operating system and robotics that ensure high-quality, reproducible freezing of samples. Automated transfer from the vitrification medium into the liquid nitrogen atmosphere provides a consistent and high yield sample throughput.

FEI (Hillsboro, OR, USA) featured the next generation of its cryo-sample preparation tool, the Vitrobot Mark IV, at the 26th annual meeting of the American Society for Virology, which was held on July 15-17, 2007, at the Oregon State University (Corvallis, OR, USA). Three-dimensional (3D) TEM visualization of macromolecular structures and molecular machines in their native hydrated state is an important tool for scientists focusing on interactive biologic and biochemical processes at the macromolecular level

The Vitrobot Mark IV can be used for biologic, pharmaceutic, food industry, and a variety of general other industrial applications where colloidal structures need to be characterized and analyzed.

FEI provides instruments for nanoscale imaging, analysis, and prototyping. The company focuses on delivering solutions that can be used by the life sciences, storage, academic, and industrial R&D development


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