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Rotary Design
The Rotor-Gene is the only real-time analyzer to employ a centrifugal rotary design. There are many benefits to the rotary format including better performance, versatility, robustness and easier maintenance.
Optical Uniformity
Optically, the Rotor-Gene is similarly uniform because every tube moves past the identical excitation light source and detection pathway (see cross section diagram opposite).
Optical calibration is a topic few vendors like to discuss because elaborate optical alignment and calibration is usually required. In the Rotor-Gene this isn’t needed because the identical optical path reaches every sample. Furthermore, the Rotor-Gene doesn’t require a normalization dye (like the the ROX™ passive reference) for the same reason.
The complex optical mechanics used by other systems (such as X-Y scanning heads and fiber-optic bundles) can be slow, fragile, expensive to repair and cumbersome to maintain. Further, they attenuate signal down a long path to the detector. In contrast, the Rotor-Gene has the fewest moving parts and the shortest optic path of any system. Simple, robust, ideal.
The short optic path and the sensitive PMT (photomultiplier) detector in the Rotor-Gene provide unequalled sensitivity. One benefit of this being a lower concentration of labeled probe or fluorescent dye can be used to achieve the same result.
High-Speed Data Acquisition
All tubes in a rotor pass the detector every revolution (150 milliseconds), allowing data to be collected at a fast rate. New and demanding applications such as HRM (high-resolution melt) rely on fast data acquisition and can thus be accommodated.
Lightsource Guarantee
The Rotor-Gene uses a separate color high-power light-emitting diode (LED) as an excitation source for each channel. LEDs maintain a uniform output over time and we provide a lifetime replacement guarantee. Compare this to other systems using incandescent projector lamps or lasers. Lamps fade continually, burn out unpredictably, and need regular replacement. Lasers are expensive to replace and have only a single excitation wavelength—meaning they properly excite a very limited range of dyes. |
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Thermal Uniformity
Rotor-Gene tubes are arranged in a circular rotor (see example left) that spins continuously at 400 rpm in a chamber of moving air. Thus there is no temperature variation between tubes due to positional effects such as the recognized “edge effect” observed in block-based designs.
Importantly, reactions also remain iso-thermal during programmed temperature transition steps. So there is also no equilibration time differences between wells—in other words every tube changes temperature at the same rate. This negates another well-to-well variable normally affecting real-time reaction kinetics. In short, the Rotor-Gene has the best thermal characteristics yet developed.
Cross-section of the reaction chamber. Diagram shows how sample tubes are illuminated and signals detected from within the reaction chamber. All tubes pass the detector every revolution. Up to six separate LED light sources can be used in combination with six different detection filters. For maximum sensitivity, a photomultiplier (PMT) captures each optical signal.
Convenience
The design simplicity and robustness of the Rotor-Gene has many welcome benefits. For example, there’s no block to clean and maintain, no alignment or optical calibration needed and there are no lamps to change. The centrifugal force on each sample ensures there are no condensation issues and air bubbles are automatically removed. You can swap rotors on-the-fly to change tube format (the equivalent to swapping a whole block) and even write on individual tube caps! All this adds up to maximum convenience and minimum maintenance.
Click here to watch a 3D animation of the
Rotor-Gene 6000 via the You TubeTM website
Click here to view/download a 3D animation of the
Rotor-Gene 6000 in .wmv format (8Mb)
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