Orbit mini - Plug and Paint
The Orbit mini is a miniaturized bilayer workstation enabling the recording of four artificial lipid bilayers simultaneously. The benefits the Orbit mini setup offers include:
- Standalone turn-key system with extremely small footprint
- Integrated four channel low-noise amplifier
- Optional temperature control - automated active cooling and heating
- Low noise recordings at highest bandwidths
- Increased throughput due to four simultaneous recordings
- Dedicated comprehensive recording software included
- Target molecules can be introduced directly or by fusion of (proteo-)liposomes
- Ion channels: voltage and ligand gated, temperature sensitive
- Nanopores, antimicrobial peptides, toxins and many more...
- Cost-efficient experiments with disposable MECA chips
The Orbit mini contains a built-in, miniaturized four-channel amplifier, allowing low noise recordings at high bandwidth without the need for any additional equipment – you could virtually conduct experiments while travelling by train! Due to the unique design of the Orbit mini, the measurement chamber temperature can be actively controlled without additional noise generation.
The complete Orbit mini platform consists of the main recording unit with a built-in four channel amplifier (Elements s.r.l.), and an optional computer-controlled environmental control unit for active cooling and heating of the recording chamber. Ionera's MECA 4 disposable recording chips are used for manual painting and recording of four artificial lipid bilayers in parallel.
For detailed information:
Add-Ons and Features
Temperature Control Unit
With the temperature control unit, temperatures on the chip can be varied in between 0°C to 50°C, as it contains an active cooling and active heating function.
Temperature control of the Orbit mini: PEG induced current blockages of a alpha-hemolysin pore
(A) Current traces recorded at 10°C and 40°C illustrating a strong increase of the open pore current as well as the blockage frequency at elevated temperature.
(B) Event averaged histograms of the residual current during blockages. The open pore current scales with the temperature as well as the dwell time of the blockages.
(C) Dependence of the open pore current on the temperature.
(D) Dependence of the frequency of blockages on the temperature.
The image war kindly provided by Ionera Technologies GmbH
Orbit mini Fluorescence Microscopy Kit
For fluorescence applications, the Orbit mini can be equipped with the "Fluorescence Microscopy Kit" which includes an adapted faraday shielding as well as "Meca 4 Recording Chips Fluo", four-well recording chips for fluorescence applications with 150 µm cavity size (Order # 132004).
Orbit mini OPTO-INV product sheet
(0.43 MB)
The MECA 4 OPTO-technology enables simultaneous optical and electrical recordings in free standing artificial lipid bilayers.
The MECA 4 OPTO-INV kit is comprised of an adapted Faraday shield for Nanion‘s Orbit mini bilayer recording station and a tailor-made holder for Ionera‘s MECA 4 OPTO-INV chips.
The holder allows for the positioning of the recording chips over the objective of an inverse microscope while enabling the electrical connection between the chips and the amplifier inside the Orbit mini.
Software
Orbit mini EDR Software
The software for the Orbit mini was developed by our partner Elements SRL (Italy). It is intuitive and easy to learn. Please watch this video on the Orbit mini to learn about the software:
Software Updates:
Please download EDR Software Updates from the Elements s.r.l homepage, out partner for Orbit mini software tools. Click here for Software downloads.
Consumables
MECA 4 Recording Chips
The MECA recording substrate contains a 2 x 2 array of circular microcavities in a highly inert polymer. Each cavity contains an individual integrated Ag/AgCl-microelectrode. The bilayer is formed by painting, with high success rates for functional bilayers. The MECA chip has been validated with a number of different ion channels including KcsA, gramicidin, α-hemolysin, KV1.3, NaV and many more.
The MECA recording chips are produced and quality assured by our partner Ionera Technologies GmbH in Freiburg Germany and shipped from Munich to our international customers. Different types of MECA recording chips are available which should be chosen depending on experiment.
Available chip types
- "Meca 4 Recording Chips 50 µm": Four-well recording chip with 50 µm cavity size (Order # 132001)
- "Meca 4 Recording Chips 100 µm": Four-well recording chip with 100 µm cavity size (Order # 132002)
- "Meca 4 Recording Chips 150 µm": Four-well recording chip with 150 µm cavity size (Order # 132003)
- "Meca 4 Recording Chips Fluo": Four-well recording chip for fluorescence applications with 150 µm cavity size (Order # 132004)
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