Agilent Introduces New High-Resolution Scanner

Santa Clara, CA (OBBeC) - Agilent Technologies has introduced the latest version of its Agilent DNA Microarray Scanner, employing SureScan High Resolution Technology to deliver high resolution and rapid scan times for current and next-generation microarrays.

According to the company, the new scanner is designed to deliver higher quality data from current 65-micron-feature microarrays and to provide equally superior output from the 30-micron features of Agilent million-feature microarrays planned for introduction later in 2008.

The new scanner, which is now available, offers resolutions of 10 microns, 5 microns, 3 microns and 2 microns, and the instrument can scan a 244,000 feature microarray at the maximum resolution in as quickly as 20 minutes. As outlined by the company, it features a dynamic range that is up to 20 times greater than other scanners, which permits high-sensitivity scanning without saturation.

Moreover, it is based on the existing, proven platform, a 48-slide scanning system using Agilent's SureScan technology. Agilent has developed new optics, electronics and software to deliver this level of performance. These features can be retrofitted to the previous model Agilent scanner through an onsite update. It can read a mix of 1 in. x 3 in. glass slide microarrays for gene expression, aCGH, ChIP-on-chip and miRNA applications.

Finally, the DNA Microarray Scanner is delivered as an integrated platform, complete with PC, barcode reader and image analysis software complete with QC reporting features. This level of integration provides walk-away operation for scanning, image analysis and array quality assessment. Extracted data can then be easily collected and linked to downstream analysis packages such as Agilent's Genespring Software.