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Blog
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June 19, 2015
The proper care and handling of your valuable surgical instruments will improve their longevity and function. Choose a protocol appropriate for your environment from the cleaning techniques below. See the videos here.
RINSING
Immediately after use, rinse instruments under warm or cool running water to remove all blood, body fluids and tissue. Dried soils may damage the instrument surface and make cleaning very difficult. Do not use hot water as this will coagulate proteinous substances.
CLEANING TECHNIQUES
Time, temperature, and agitation play important roles in the cleaning process.
Time — the efficiency of cleaning chemicals is often time dependant
Temperature — higher temperature cleaning solutions result in better cleaning...more
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June 19, 2015
Surgical instruments for dissecting come in a variety of patterns, types, shapes and sizes. Choosing the correct one for your application will improve outcome and reduce the frustration of trying to use an inappropriate tool.
Choosing a Set of Forceps
Ceramic Forceps
Ceramic contains no metal. So, ceramic forceps will not leave any trace metal residue on tissue. This is especially useful in forensic science research. Ceramic is not electrically conductive, so it can be used for handling gels in an electrophoresis bath. Ceramic's corrosion resistance allows its use in highly corrosive solutions. For example, it could be used to clean quartz cover glass or lithographic produced chip sensors in an acid solution without damaging the forceps. Ceramic's low heat conductivity and high heat resistance allow it to hold parts in a flame for sterilizing or fabricating. Although the flame with eventually reduce the...more
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June 12, 2015
First, let's consider volumes. - A milliliter (mL) is one thousandth the volume of a liter (L) or 10-3L
- A microliter (µL) is one thousandth the volume of a mL (10-6L)
- A nanoliter (nL) is one thousandth the volume of a µL (10-9L)
- A picoliter (pL) is one thousandth the volume of a nL (10-12L)
This is graphically represented at the right. Notice that the mL is one trillion times larger than the picoliter. The table (right) shows that the side of a cube with a volume of 1mL is 1cm long. Likewise, the side of a cube with a volume of 1pL is 10µm long. Just for comparison, it shows that the diameter of a sphere with a volume of 1mL is 1.24cm, and the volume of a sphere with a volume of 1pL is 12.4µm.
With these volume comparisons in mind, lets consider some of the available options for microinjection pumps.
...more
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May 14, 2015
Surgery in the Middle Ages
It’s hard to imagine that surgery wasn’t always the prestigious profession it is today. But, in medieval Europe, physicians didn’t practice surgery, because such things were handled by lesser men… or even by women. Often, the local barber took care of minor surgeries. He would travel from town to town, and you could stop in to get a haircut and shave, and at the same time get a tooth pulled or have a minor surgery.
In the 1500s, women were prohibited from becoming physicians but were allowed to practice surgery. It was an occupation they learned by apprenticeship, and they often used it to serve the poor. During the 1700s, as the profession advanced and higher learning was required, women were barred from practicing surgery, because they were also excluded from universities where the skills were taught. Thankfully, the world has changed!
Modern Medicine
Life science research through the centuries has led us to this age of modern...more
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April 14, 2015
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March 06, 2015
World Precision Instruments' PUL-1000 is a microprocessor controlled, four-stage, horizontal puller for making glass micropipettes or microelectrodes used in intracellular recording, microperfusion and microinjection. It offers programmable sequences of up to four steps with complete control over the heating, force, movement and cooling time. This allows graduated cycles for a variety of applications. PUL-1000 can produce pipettes with tip diameters from less than 0.1µm to 10+ µm.
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February 02, 2015
Here are some frequently asked questions (FAQ) about TEER measurement using an EVOM2.
- Are the electrical resistance and transepithelial electrical resistance (TEER) the same thing?
- What is an EndOhm chamber?
- How is an EVOM2 used for measuring confluence?
- Why use an EndOhm instead of a STX?
- How do I clean my electrode?
- What about electrode preconditioning?
- Can you give me a simple data acquisition system for TEER?
- What are the TEER measurement challenges that I may encounter?
- Can you suggest some experimental...more
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December 08, 2014
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November 11, 2014
The EVOM2 is the classic, hand-held instrument for making Trans Epithelial Electrical Resistance (TEER) measurements. The REMS system adds a robot and data recording for automated TEER measurements. There may be times when you don't have a robot, but would still like to have the data recording capabilities of the REMS system. With a little ingenuity, you can do just that. Here, we will show you how you can add data recording to your standard EVOM2...more.
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October 21, 2014
A low-noise amplifier like the DAM50 is an excellent choice for EEG recording in rodents. WPI's amplifiers were engineered for the bio-medical researcher. While 20-30μV of noise is common in bio-amplifiers, WPI’s DAM series amplifiers generate 0.4μV RMS (root mean squared) at 0.1-100Hz. (That’s equal to about 2μV peak to peak.) This setup shows one way such recordings could be made. The RC1 electrode works well for rats, and the EP1 is more suitable for mouse cranial application.
For this application, you will need the following equipment: