GenePix Professional 4200A

Four-color scanner with 16-position emission filter wheel for microarrays, tissue and cell arrays, and general fluorescence studies

Now Available!  GenePix Autoloader 4200AL

 
The GenePix family of microarray scanners has long been hailed as the industry leader in performance, features and ease-of-use. Now, the GenePix® Professional 4200A scanner sets an even higher standard for microarray instrumentation with its powerful set of new and enhanced features designed for superior performance, multispectral imaging and high duty-cycle usage.

Frequently we hear from customers of our competitors that they regret the day they didn't buy a GenePix—please read the following features carefully as you consider your next purchase of such an important research instrument. We're proud to say that you won't be disappointed when you buy a GenePix scanner!

Choosing Your GenePix Scanner

The performance and many features of the different GenePix models are similar, so check the GenePix Scanner Comparison Table to see the key differences.

New

• Improved performance from the industry-leader in quality
• Four-color system for multispectral imaging applications
• 16-position emission filter wheel for enhanced flexibility
• Complete software analysis package included with every scanner

Features

Axon Instruments Innovation and Quality

• Established reputation as the premier quality scanner company
• Developed with key contributions from academic leaders in the field of microarray research
• The same elegant, efficient and functional design as our previous scanners from an award-winning industrial design team
• Employs industry-leading ultra-low noise digitization technology pioneered by Axon Instruments over the last 20 years

• Ideal balance of powerful and flexible features with ease-of-use and accessibility considerations
• GenePix Professional scanner includes one license of industry-leading GenePix Pro image acquisition and analysis software. Additional GenePix Pro and Acuity microarray informatics software licenses may also be purchased with the scanner.
• Full-function demonstration version of powerful Acuity visualization and database microarray analysis software to "try before you buy"
• Fast, friendly and professional service from our experienced team of sales and technical support personnel

Four Color Scanning

• Simultaneous installation of up to four lasers
• Employs solid-state diode and gas lasers that are internally installed into one compact bench-top unit
• Choose from a substantially broader choice of dyes, such as fluorescein, GFP, Texas Red or the Alexa Fluor® dyes

Laser Power Attenuation

• Gradient neutral density filter allowing 5-100% laser transmission in 1% increments
• Allows for maximum flexibility in balancing channel intensities
• Reduce photobleaching of sensitive samples

Unparalleled Signal-to-Noise Performance

• Industry-leading low-noise digitization technology
• Ultra-sensitive PMT detector for substantially greater sensitivity than white-light CCD systems—5 or 10 times higher signal-to-noise (SNR) values, as predicted by theory and measured in practice
• Greater SNR results in ability to use lower PMT settings and avoid saturating pixels—known to confound subsequent higher-order microarray analysis (such as clustering)
• Unparalleled sensitivity means lower laser power settings can be reliably used without degrading SNR

Remarkably Compact

• With a footprint of 43 x 65 cm, still compact enough to fit on a bench-top for space economy
• Since all lasers are internally-installed, there are no separate, space-consuming Argon or Krypton ion lasers and cooling systems to accommodate

Accessible Emission Filter Wheel

• Provides an even greater degree of flexibility in dye selection
• Innovative and elegant design allows easy access for filter installation
• Twelve open positions available plus four reserved for factory-installed filters for a total of sixteen emission filter positions

Upgrades and Service

• Includes standard one-year factory service warranty
• Service Agreements to extend the warranty coverage is available at time of purchase or any time before warranty expires
• Unlimited Ph.D.-level technical support at no charge
• Field installation of any laser upgrade is available

Scanning Resolution & Flexibility

• Maximize feature sampling with user-selectable scan resolutions between 5 and 100 microns
• Use the 40-micron Preview scan to obtain a reference image or to balance channel settings
• Prevent photobleaching and save time using the new rescan feature—the reacquisition of one or more channels without having to rescan all channels again

Designed for High Duty-Cycle Usage

• Ideal for high-usage laboratories and microarray core facilities in academic, biotechnology and pharmaceutical environments
• High duty cycle motors for maximum translation and focus motor lifetimes
• Weight and balance are designed to minimize vibration and optimize heat dissipation
• All lasers undergo extensive quality control testing procedures by both the manufacturer and Axon Instruments

Enhanced Performance Features

• Incredibly low values for rotational non-uniformity at ±4%
• On-the-fly intensity correction circuitry to correct for minor laser fluctuations inherent in all lasers
• Decreased per channel scan time, approximately four minutes per channel (full size image at 10 µm scan resolution)
• Improved analytical methods for higher density arrays

Specifications

General
Sample type:	4200A: Standard microscope slides (1" x 3", 25 x 75 mm, 26 x 76 mm; 0.9-1.1 mm thick) 4200AL: GenePix 4200AL Slide Compatibility Supplement [PDF]
Maximum scan area:	4200A: 22 x 71.5 mm     4200AL: 22 x 69 mm
Maximum resolution:	5 µm
Scan mode and order:	Sequential; fully user-configurable scan order
Detector:	Photomultiplier tube (PMT)
Digital resolution:	16-bit
Image format:	Single-image or multi-image TIFF
Computer interface:	SCSI (adapter included)
Emission filters:	See Configurations section below
Performance
Scan time:	Four minutes per channel for full size scan area at 10 µm resolution
Dynamic range:	Four orders of magnitude; using a proprietary dilution series slide to determine the lower range of detection where minimum signal-to-noise value is greater than 3.0
Rotational Uniformity:	Less than ±4% non-uniformity. Values were obtained by comparing difference in fluorescence intensity of proprietary standard scanned in one orientation, then rotated 180° and scanned again

Lasers

Standard Configuration

• Red and green two-color system for use with popular Alexa Fluor® and CyDyes™
• Solid-state diode or diode-pumped continuous-wave lasers
• Red laser: 635 nm centered wavelength
• Green laser: 532 nm centered wavelength

Optional lasers

Blue Laser

• Premier solid-state blue continuous-wave laser
• Miniature size permits internal installation (dimensions are 125 x 70 mm)
• Extreme power stability and lifetime
• 488 nm centered wavelength

Yellow Laser

• Compact HeNe continuous-wave gas laser
• Well-established technology known for durability and long life
• Fiber optic coupled
• 594 nm centered wavelength

Physical Characteristics
Dimensions:	43 cm (16.9") x 65 cm (25.6") x 34 cm (13.4") (WxDxH)
Weight:	45 kg (99 lb)
Power supply:	Line voltage: 85 to 264 VAC (110 to 340 VDC) universal voltage input
Line frequency:	50-60 Hz
Power:	150 W
Fuse:	2.0 A slow. 5 x 20 mm

Safety Regulatory Standards

Software

The GenePix Professional 4200A includes one license of GenePix® Pro, the industry-leading microarray image acquisition and first-pass analysis software. You may also purchase additional licenses of GenePix Pro or licenses of Acuity®, a powerful and scalable database, statistical and data visualization software package, at the time of scanner purchase, or at any time afterwards.

GenePix Pro:

• Integrated package for one-step image acquisition and analysis
• Industry-standard Axon file formats GenePix Array List (GAL) and GenePix Results (GPR) files
• Find and analyze features of any shape—elliptical, square, and arbitrary irregular
• Additional metrics and visualization tools for quality control analysis
• Export results as MAGE-ML files
• Seamlessly export results to Acuity database
• Widely acclaimed for its ease-of-use and as the most popular microarray analysis software available

Acuity:

• Fast, scalable SQL database for individual or enterprise-level users
• Comprehensive statistical analysis, normalization, clustering and visualization features
• Analysis audit trail
• No license fees

See the Acuity page for complete information.

Computer Requirements

GenePix is fully functional with the Minimum computer requirements. However, satisfactory performance depends on the size of the files you will generate. The RAM and hard disk configuration is the most critical. If you plan to scan areas smaller than a full slide, or to scan regularly at 10 µm resolution, the Minimum requirements will provide satisfactory performance of all GenePix Pro features. However, if you plan to scan full slides at 5 µm, or if you plan to run other applications simultaneously, we strongly suggest the Recommended configuration. Computer workstations purchased from Molecular Devices will meet or exceed the Recommended configuration.

Computer  -  Minimum

• IBM-compatible computer with an Intel Pentium “Dual Core” processor 1.6 GHz or faster.
• Windows XP or Vista 32-bit edition operating system
• Memory requirements:
  • Full-size scan region at 5 µm resolution:
    1 GB RAM for two colors;  2 GB for three or more colors
  • 10 µm scanning or partial-size scan regions at 5 µm resolution:
    512 MB RAM for two colors;  768 MB for three or more colors
• 40 GB hard drive (for image storage)
• Available full-size PCI slot for SCSI adapter (Note: the provided PCI SCSI adapter will not fit in a low-profile or slimline case)
• Integrated Video Card.
• Optical drive with CD read and write capabilities (CD-RW).
• At least 1 free USB port or network connection (for the USB hardware protection key)*
• 1080 x 1024 display
• Internet Explorer 5.0 or higher

Computer  -  Recommended

• IBM-compatible computer with an Intel “Core 2” processor 2.0 GHz or faster
• Windows XP or Vista 32-bit edition operating system.
• 2 GB RAM or more.
• Dedicated Video Card 128MB or greater.
• 80 GB hard drive (for image storage)
• Available full-size PCI slot for SCSI adapter (Note: the provided PCI SCSI adapter will not fit in a low-profile or slimline case)
• Optical Drive with DVD and CD read and write capabilities (DVD+/-RW)
• At least 1 free USB port or network connection (for the USB hardware protection key)*
• Internet access (for faster version updates and troubleshooting)
• 1280 x 1024 display system with 16M colors
• Internet Explorer 6.0 SP1

*If your computer does not have a free USB port but has a network connection you can specify a network hardware protection key when ordering GenePix Pro.

Configurations

Standard two-color configuration:

• Single-slide manual loader
• 635 nm solid-state laser and red emission filter, installed
• 532 nm solid-state laser and green emission filter, installed
• SCSI card, included
• Filter mounting rings (15) and filter tool, included

Options:

• 488 nm solid-state InGaAs laser and blue emission filter, installed
• 594 nm HeNe fiber-coupled ion laser and yellow emission filter, installed

Additional emission filters:

• See table or speak to our sales personnel. If not listed in the table, custom-made filters can be ordered directly from a filter supplier, such as Chroma, Omega Optical, or Semrock. Specify 12.5 mm mounted filters, the laser excitation source and also indicate that it will be used with a GenePix Professional 4200A scanner from Axon Instruments, Inc.

Field and Factory Upgrades

Additional lasers can be installed in the field for the list price of parts plus labor and expenses. Appointments are made based on field technician availability. Laser installations can also be performed by returning unit to the factory.

Contact our sales department for more information about laser upgrades.

Ordering Information

GenePix Professional 4200A

• Includes one license of industry-leading GenePix Pro image acquisition and analysis software. Additional GenePix Pro and Acuity microarray informatics software licenses may also be purchased with the scanner.
• Available in multiple configurations. All packages include the GenePix Professional 4200A scanner, SCSI adapter, cables, and unlimited technical support.
• Available with a fully configured Dell computer with GenePix Professional 4200A hardware and GenePix Pro / Acuity software installed. This option is highly recommended.

 
Alexa Fluor® is a registered trademark of Molecular Probes.  CyDyes™ is a trademark of Amersham Biosciences.