StainWorks software: a centralized app for accessing and configuring protocols

Step 1 - Creating a high humidity environment inside the Omni-Stainer

Place at least 30 ml of deionized water into the Omni-Stainer. This helps maintaining humid environment and preventing evaporation from the covertile/slide or pad/coverlsip sandwich

Step 2 - Using a coverslip with a sample to construct the flowcell

Both the S(slide) and the C(overslip) Omni-Stainers utilize so called "capillary liquid exchange " concept which is based on creating a thin layer of staining solution evenly covering the sample. The space where the sample is facing the exchangeable reactive staining solutions is called a "flow cell". To create the flow cell in C type Omni-Stainer the coverslip with the sample facing down needs to placed onto an omni-pad. This can be achieved in a number of ways – the easiest one by doing it under the layer of PBS or any such compatible buffer inside a tip box lid or a beaker (see the video below). As confidence and experience are built this can also be done by placing a drop of compatible buffer on top of the omni-pad and then covering the drop with a coverslip such that bubbles are avoided. In the case bubbles are encountered – sliding the coverslip such that bubble is released and then sliding it back after adding a bit more of the liquid allows to "expel" the bubbles