The Prepmaster 5100 Specimen Preparation Robot System

Features

• Heated Agitation Station™ specimen dock with gentle, constant shaking movement for rapid and thorough post-fixation and rinsing (RT–60°C).
• Heated reagent reservoir for enhanced post-fixation with hot heavy metals or other reagents (RT–60°C).
• Cooled reagent reservoir for cold dehydration or cold reduced osmium (5°C–RT).
• Windows® laptop computer control for easy creation, modification, and storage of unlimited protocols.
• UV light protected ventilated enclosure keeps noxious fumes contained and vented.
• Small footprint (63 x 57cm) enables convenient in-hood option with enclosure removed.

Benefits

• Error reduction due to eliminating pipetting errors or mishandling
• Easy to set up and clean
• Versatile - processing of most biological samples
• Fast Operation - e.g. Prepare up to 8 kidney samples in less than 1 hour
• Excellent for complicated protocols e.g. volume EM sample preps (ROTO protocols)
• Can handle up to 24 unique reagents or rinses.
• Unattended operation overnight
• Reproducible, high quality and consistent results

Specifications

Precision meets efficiency with 1-2-3 ease

1. Load Reagents
Add sealed reservoir with freshly prepared osmium tetroxide and other hazardous reagents.
Buffer, water, and ethanol are stored in bulk reservoirs and refilled daily.

2. Load Specimen
Transfer biological specimens to the sample processing plate. Set plate on sample dock.

3. Select Protocol & Press Start
Select your preprogrammed protocol and press Start.
Then walk away. The Prepmaster will alert you when it’s finished running.

Applications

The versatile Prepmaster 5100 offers a wide range of applications for TEM, SEM, and LM including, but not limited to, tissue/biopsies (1mm dia. x 1–3mm length), cells seeded-on-coverslips, organoids, retinas, and most other biological samples.

Astrocytes on Coverslips

Ben August, UW-Madison
Cacodylate buffer with reduced osmium tetroxide shows beautifully preserved Golgi apparatus membranes, low cytoplasmic background, and easily visible microtubules.

The Prepmaster 5100 Specimen Preparation Robot System includes:

Robot:

• Prepmaster 5100 Specimen Preparation Robot chassis
• Ventilated 99% UV blocking fume containment and evacuation enclosure
• Thermally Controlled (RT–60°C) Agitation Station™ Sample Dock 
• Heated (RT - 60°C) 12-position Reagent Reservoir
• Cooled (5°C - RT) 12-position Reagent Reservoir
• Windows laptop computer controller with power supply
• USB cable

Labware:

• 1x 4-position bulk reagent reservoir with 1 set of 4 reusable reservoirs 
• 1x 96-well reservoir for heavy metals and other toxic reagents
• 1x 96-well reservoir for toxic reagent waste
• 1x 96-well reservoir for dehydration reagents
• 1x 1-well reservoir for non-toxic waste
• 1x Squeeze bottle for phosphate buffer refilling
• 1x Squeeze bottle for ethanol refilling
• 1x Squeeze bottle for water refilling
   

Consumables:

• 2x boxes of 96-well 300μl pipette tips
• 10x specimen prep plates
• 10x 1ml graduated transfer pipettes
• 10x X-pierce vinyl plate covers
• 10x aluminum plate seals