ICnano Features
High resolution
The probe is controlled above the scanned surface at a distance approximately equal to the inner radius of the pipette tip, typically 20-100 nm. Achievable lateral resolution is of the same order as the radius, while vertical resolution is around 5 x higher.
Minimal Sample Preparation
For live samples, no staining, embedding, slicing, mounting or evacuating is needed. The sample adhered to a surface and immersed in electrolyte - SICM is not suitable for free floating cells. A common approach is to place the sample in a petri dish under growth medium. The same electrolyte would generally be used to fill the nanopipette. Where a cellular monolayer is needed, it may be grown in advance in the dish to be scanned.
Ease of use
Scanning
Simple on-screen setup of scanning parameters.
No hesitation or guesswork positioning the scanning tip. Mount the pipette, lower until the tip enters the electrolyte, and activate. The ICnano® control system handles the rest.
Real-time display of scan progress, including current scan line profile, progressive raster image, ion current levels and scan parameters.
Image handling
Intuitive, interactive controls for image analysis, manipulation and management.
Learning curve
Extensive trials have shown that novice users can rapidly learn the basics of ICnano®, and often produce useful results on their first day of operation.
Robustness and reliability
The fundamental control algorithm that drives the ICnano® system seeks to avoid any surface contact, whether of the sample to be scanned, or of objects encountered in the electrolyte. This helps to protect the scan, the sample and the system from damage and contamination. Extended (>24hrs), continuous scans of live samples may be carried out routinely.
Stand alone capability
The ICnano® system may be mounted on an inverted optical microscope. This is the most common configuration for initial use, helping user familiarisation and enabling the direct comparison of conventional and SICM images. In addition, this configuration enables a range of hybrid measurements, especially techniques involving fluorescent emission.
However, without the optical workstation, the ICnano® forms a highly effective stand-alone research tool, providing compact and cost-effective imaging, along with probe automation capabilities. Such an approach offers significant savings, by reducing the footprint of a single workstation, by reducing the total mass to be protected against vibration and by reducing workstation unit cost.
Price / Performance
ICnano® offers much higher resolution imaging of immersed and living or soft samples than has been feasible to date by any other method. In addition, the total life-cycle cost of delivering this capability is significantly lower than that of many comparable techniques:
- in its basic purchase price
- in the short time to commission and learn
- in the availability and productivity of the system throughout its working life
- in the fact that the pipettes are the only consumable items - and these cost just a few pence/cents each
The unique combination of technologies implemented in ICnano® has produced a scanning system with the best price/performance ratio available today.
