A high performance, high sensitivity fluorescence microplate analysis system for use with small volumes of samples is available from Hitachi Scientific Instruments
Ideally suited for fluorescence immunoassays, the system consists of an F-4500 rapid scan fluorescence spectrophotometer equipped with an 18µL flow cell, and an AS-3000 intelligent autosampler for direct sampling from 96 well microplates.
The sophisticated sampling facilities of the AS-3000 overcome problems associated with transferring the sample from the microplate wells in assays when only very small volumes of sample are available.
First a small volume of the sample is aspirated from the well into the injection system, then a volume of solvent is aspirated from a separate container and injected behind the sample.
This forces the sample 'slug' through the injection system and into the 0.18µL flow cell.
This arrangement uses the conventional optical configuration of the spectrophotometer to ensure the ultimate sensitivity and speed of analysis of the F-4500 is retained.
This avoids the use of fibre optic cables for the incident and emitted light, which can give up to 70% loss in light intensity.
This versatile arrangement makes a wide range of measurements possible, including quantitative analysis, spectrum measurement, 3-dimension spectral acquisition and display, and monitoring changes with time.
A technical data sheet illustrating the use of this system for the measurement of enzyme activity is available.
