Products: MicroTools™
These tools are designed for use with samples from a few micrometers to a millimeter in size. Unlike other microtools, Mitegen's patent-pending MicroTools™ have tips made from soft, flexible microfabricated polymer films. The curvature of the tips gives them rigidity, but they can still easily be flexed to, e.g., slide flat along the well bottom in a multiwell plate, simplifying sample retrieval. These tools are far less likely to damage fragile samples than metal microtools, and are optically and X-ray transparent. Use for protein crystals, single cells and other small samples.
Each tool is mounted on a 0.025"/ 0.64 mm diameter nonmagnetic solid stainless steel rod. Hold them in a standard 0.7 mm mechanical pencil (included with each kit), or in a micromanipulator.
MicroTool™ Kit 1, our original kit, contains 20 tools for common sample manipulation tasks. These include dislodging samples from slides and plates separating samples, holding and transferring samples during soaks, rigidly holding samples at room temperature, cutting protein skins, gels and lipid phases, and measuring sample dimensions. The polymer film is 10 micrometers thick and produces little background X-ray scatter, so you can also use these tools to hold your sample in an X-ray beam.
MicroTool™ Kit 2 contains 20 tools for common sample manipulation tasks. These tools are 50% thicker than those in Kit 1. This makes them more durable and rigid, but also increases background X-ray scatter.
MicroTool™ Kit 3 contains 20 tools for sample measurements. Two tool designs allow measurement of linear sample dimensions, and two allow measurement of both linear and angular dimensions. Use them to accurately measure small and fragile samples, including those contained in optically distorting liquid drops.
MicroTool™ Kit 3 is also available in an X-ray fluorescent version (Kit 3F). These tools exhibit a red glow when hit by an X-ray or electron beam. Use them to measure your beam size and shape, and its position relative to your telescope reticle.