☑️S12 Assembly and Sample Prep

Step 1 - Create Humid Environment: add 30 mL deionized water to the Omni-Stainer™ S12 base

Step 2 - Construct S-type Flow Cell: mounting a Cover Pad on a slide with a sample.

Adhesive spacers on the plastic Cover Pads ensure optimal flow cell thickness. The chosen adhesive allows the Cover Pad to slide when wet but holds it in place to prevent lateral staining solution bleed.

To place the coverpad

First remove the coverpad from the plastic film. Then, pre-wet both the coverpad and the slide surface. Then slide on the coverpad over the sample such that the "flow cell" is evenly filled with the liquid (PBS or hydration buffer) without any bubbles (see videos below).

There are multiple methods to build the flow cell "sandwich," aiming to ensure the Cover Pad sits firmly on the slide, and the internal "capillary chamber" contains buffer without any air bubbles.

The "Yury Method"

The "Easy Method"

Easy Method" consists of sliding on the Cover Pad under the layer of PBS or any such compatible buffer inside a suitable reservoir such as a pipette tip box lid.

The "Big Drop Method"

As confidence and experience are built, constructing an S-type flow cell can also be achieved by placing a big drop (250ul) of compatible buffer on top of the slide and then sliding the coverpad over the drop to avoid bubbles.

Step 3 - Place flow cell into the shelf, and insert shelf into base

Step 4 - Adhere moisture barrier paper to the lid's bottom, wet it with 10 mL of deionized water

Step 5 - Put the lid on the base, matching slanted corners

Full Assembly

Using a Thermal Sheath?