The Teton™ workflow uses a slide kit for culturing samples. Before starting a cytoprofiling run, the slide must be reassembled into a flow cell using components from the Teton Flow Cell Assembly Kit.
This guide outlines best practices for flow cell assembly using the Teton Flow Cell Aligner and Sealer.
Gather the following consumables:
- Teton Slide Kit, disassembled
- Teton Flow Cell Assembly Kit
- Teton Flow Cell Aligner and Sealer
- Ethanol Wipes
- Compressed Air
Align and sandwich the sample slide and adhesive slide
1. Prepare your workspace:
- Use a clean lab bench at waist height or higher.
2. Clean the aligner:
- Wipe all surfaces and alignment pins with ethanol wipes to remove debris.
3. Load the sample slide:
- Press the Sample side button on the aligner.
- Insert the sample slide with the beveled corner aligned, cells facing up
- Ensure the slide is firmly in place
4. Load the adhesive slide:
- From the Teton Flow Cell Assembly Kit, remove the Adhesive slide, handling only by its edges.
- Press the button on the Adhesive slide of the flow cell aligner.
- Insert the adhesive slide with the beveled corner aligned. The plastic film should be facing up.
5. Remove the protective cover:
- From the beveled corner, lift up the protective cover and discard.
- Check the adhesive slide to ensure that it remains securely in place.
6. Sandwich the glass slides
- With two hands, lift the Adhesive side of the aligner.
- Rotate the adhesive side and position so the holes of the Adhesive side are directly above the pins on the Sample side.
- Gently guide the adhesive side along the posts until the adhesive slide makes contact with the sample side
7. Inspect and Confirm Aligner makes complete contact:
- Look around the edges of the aligner and ensure the top part has made even contact along the entire edge.
- Place your hand gently on top of the aligner for ~5 seconds
8. Recover the sandwiched slides:
- With two hands, lift the Adhesive side to open the flow cell aligner.
- The sample slide and adhesive slide should be sandwiched together and remain on the Adhesive side.
- Press the button on the adhesive side and recover the sandwiched slides.
Seal the sandwiched slides using the Teton sealer
1. Prepare your workspace:
- Use a clean lab bench at waist height or higher.
2. Clean the roller:
- Wipe all surfaces with ethanol wipes to remove debris.
3. Load the sample slide:
- Press the Sample side button on the aligner.
- Insert the sample slide with the beveled corner aligned, cells facing up
- Ensure the slide is firmly in place
4. Place the sandwiched slide in the sealer:
- Remove the placeholder slide from the sealer.
- Place the sandwiched slide into the recessed area of the Teton flow cell Sealer.
- Run your fingers along the recessed area to ensure the sandwiched slide is lying flat within the recessed area with no edges lifted.
- Note: An improperly placed slide may cause breakage.
5. Roll over the slide to seal:
- Caution! Move slowly and smoothly - moving too quickly can cause the slide to move out of position and lead to cracking.
- With the roller handle facing you, firmly place one hand on the base using the handle and the other hand firmly on the roller grip.
- Slowly guide the roller across the sealer and back taking ~2 seconds in each direction.
- Repeat the forward and back motion 2 more times, each time confirming the sandwiched slide is lying flat within the recessed area.
6. Rotate and repeat slide sealing:
- Flip over the sandwiched slide and reposition in the recessed area, checking again that the sandwiched slide is lying flat with no edges lifted.
- As before, slowly roll over the sandwiched slide taking ~2 seconds in each direction.
- Repeat the forward and back motion 2 more times, confirming the slide is properly set in the recessed area each time.
7. Remove and visually inspect the sandwiched slide:
- The adhesive areas should be a consistent opacity throughout. o Proceed to Assemble the Flow Cell Cartridge in the Teton Cytoprofiling User Guide.
Maintaining your Teton flow cell sealer
When your sealer is not in use, store the sealer with the placeholder slide in the indented surface and the roller grip parked closest to the sealer handle.
Always wipe down the sealer and aligner with ethanol wipes and/or use compressed air to ensure the tools are free from debris.
If a slide has been damaged on the flow cell sealer, the roller grip can be removed to facilitate cleaning. To remove the roller grip, remove the placeholder slide and gently turn the sealer upside down while supporting the roller grip. Using a 3mm hex head Allen key, loosen the two captive screws surrounding the roller grip. Flip the sealer around and lift off the roller grip.
The exposed roller can be cleaned with an ethanol wipe, compressed air or lab tape to remove any debris. With the placeholder in the recessed area, you can move the roller to ensure debris is fully removed.