[3dem] Gatan 910 multi specimen cryo transfer holder-- not for the neophyte

Fri Oct 5 07:36:13 PDT 2018

Dear Tobias,

I only heard about their ongoing developing project and am not aware of 
any specific information. But I think such a product will allow 
effective use of traditional CryoEM for screening and also for high 
resolution data collection if K2 camera is installed.
So I hope they will start selling soon.

Best,

Tomohiro,

On 2018/10/05 21:55, Tobias Furstenhaupt wrote:
> Dear Tomohiro,
> 
> I also heard of Gatan that they offer the Elsa as 3-sample holder and we
> would be very interested in it. But of course I only would buy it if I
> heard from the field that those holders work.
> Are you aware if any of those 3-sample holder are being used in a lab?
> 
> cheers
> Tobias
> 
> 
> 
> -----------------------------------
> Tobias Fürstenhaupt, PhD
> head of Electron Microscopy
> Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics (MPI-CBG)
> Pfotenhauerstrasse 108
> 01307 Dresden, Germany
> 
> mail: furstenh at mpi-cbg.de
> phone: (+49) (0)351 210-2690
> cell: (+49) (0)157/36046001
> 
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: 3dem [mailto:3dem-bounces at ncmir.ucsd.edu] On Behalf Of Tomohiro
> Nishizawa
> Sent: Wednesday, 03.10.2018 13:19
> To: 3dem at ncmir.ucsd.edu
> Subject: Re: [3dem] Gatan 910 multi specimen cryo transfer holder-- not
> for the neophyte
> 
> Dear Valorie,
> 
> Thank you so much for the information.
> I also asked Gatan, and they say thy are also developing a new
> multi-specimen holder based on the Elsa holder, though I am not sure how
> good it will be.
> 
> Again, I appreciate for your kind response.
> 
> 
> Tomohiro,
> 
> 
> On 2018/10/02 21:03, Bowman, Valorie D wrote:
>> Dear Tomohiro,
>>
>>
>> Yes, that problem is corrected.  They no longer sell the version I
>> described.
>>
>>
>> The only problem with the version they sell now is the potential to
>> accumulate more frost during the time it takes to load 3 grids and the
>> resulting longer wait for it to stabilize in the column prior to
>> imaging.  However, since it's often used for screening freezing
>> conditions rather than data collection, it's well worth it.
>>
>>
>> *Cheers,*
>> /
>> /
>> /Valorie
>> /
>> /
>> /
>> /Valorie Bowman/
>>
>> vdb at purdue.edu
>> 765-494-5643
>> EM Facility Laboratory Manager/
>> Senior Research Electron Microscopist
>> Purdue Cryo EM Facility
>> Purdue University
>> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>> --
>> *From:* 3dem <3dem-bounces at ncmir.ucsd.edu> on behalf of Tomohiro
>> Nishizawa <t-2438 at bs.s.u-tokyo.ac.jp>
>> *Sent:* Tuesday, October 2, 2018 4:33 AM
>> *Cc:* 3dem at ncmir.ucsd.edu
>> *Subject:* Re: [3dem] Gatan 910 multi specimen cryo transfer holder--
>> not for the neophyte Dear all,
>>
>> I found previous posts on Gatan multi-specimen cryo holder 910.
>> We are now considering purchasing this holder and am curious about the
>> current situation. Were all these problems already fixed?
>> Any information is greatly appreciated.
>>
>> Best,
>>
>>
>> Tomohiro Nishizawa
>> University of Tokyo
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> On 2017/11/01 0:17, Matthias Wolf wrote:
>>> Dear Valorie,
>>>
>>> Thank you very much for your detailed reply. This is indeed very
> helpful.
>>>
>>> But I don’t fully understand the anatomy of he holder - When you talk
>>> about the “cassette”, what exactly do you mean? From the brochure it
>>> looks just like a 626 with 3 wells at the tip of the holder rod, into
>>> which a naked grid is loaded directly and secured by split ring
>>> (presumably a more “springy” version of the ring used in the 626).
>>> This would be consistent with your “old design”. Does the entire tip
>>> of the holder come off?
>>>
>>> Or are you loading assembled FEI cartridges (ring, grid, C-clip)
>>> unsecured onto the holder and those can fall out?
>>> Their height would probably be too thick for locking them down with
>>> the split ring. I remember that silicon nitride grids, which are
>>> about
>>> 0.4 micron thick, could barely be clipped in the 626.
>>> If so, is there a dedicated version of the 910, which is designed to
>>> take FEI cartridges (the “new design”)?
>>>
>>> Also, how many hours of working time do you get before refilling the
>>> dewar?
>>> Is a movie rate camera required for drift compensation at anything
>>> but low mag?
>>>
>>> Thanks, Leo, for pointing out a newer model - I will inquire.
>>>
>>> Best regards,
>>>
>>>     Matthias
>>>
>>> On Oct 31, 2017, at 21:37, Bowman, Valorie D <vdb at purdue.edu
>>> <mailto:vdb at purdue.edu>> wrote:
>>>
>>>> Dear Matthias,
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> We have one.  It is both great and terrifying.  I have used it to
>>>> screen 6 cryo conditions in an afternoon. BUT, it has one awful
>>>> design flaw- it is incredibly easy to drop the cassette into the
>>>> column. If a person is looking at the 3rd grid and turns the grid
>>>> selector the wrong direction, & plop!  Gravity immediately pulls the
>>>> left end of the cassette down off the edge of the stage, the right
>>>> end pivots up off the ball on the end of the rod, and the whole
>>>> thing falls out into the abyss.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> We have one of the older models, and that design was far superior.
>>>>   Loading was more difficult, but this risk does not exist with the
>>>> grids mounted in wells in the sample rod itself.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Both models take 15-20 minutes longer to stabilize in the microscope
>>>> after insertion, and they take longer to cool down, but I count that
>>>> a fair trade off for 3 samples at once.  The split-ring clip rings
>>>> are not too different from the 626 version; it's just easier to
>>>> accidentally push through a grid.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> By far, the worst thing is the lack of a real "lock" onto the
>>>> cartridges.  This holder was tested by one of our best people, and
>>>> he dropped the cartridge in the scope the very first time he used
>>>> it!  I know it is only a matter of time before it happens again--
>>>> and the cartridges are not cheap, plus potential scope down time if
>>>> it blocks the beam, pole pieces, etc.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> It's a great holder, but if you have a wide range of levels of
>>>> users, it might not be one for everyone.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Valorie
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> /Valorie Bowman/
>>>>
>>>> vdb at purdue.edu <mailto:vdb at purdue.edu>
>>>> 494-5643
>>>> EM Facility Laboratory Manager/
>>>> Senior Research Electron Microscopist Purdue Cryo EM Facility Purdue
>>>> University
>>>> --------------------------------------------------------------------
>>>> ----
>>>> *From:* 3dem <3dem-bounces at ncmir.ucsd.edu
>>>> <mailto:3dem-bounces at ncmir.ucsd.edu>> on behalf of Matthias Wolf
>>>> <matthias.wolf at oist.jp <mailto:matthias.wolf at oist.jp>>
>>>> *Sent:* Monday, October 30, 2017 11:00 PM
>>>> *To:* 3dem at ncmir.ucsd.edu <mailto:3dem at ncmir.ucsd.edu>
>>>> *Subject:* [3dem] Gatan 910 multi specimen cryo transfer holder
>>>>
>>>> Hi all,
>>>>
>>>> We are considering the purchase of a Gatan 910 cryo transfer multi
>>>> specimen side entry holder.
>>>>
>>>> Does anyone have experience with this holder?
>>>>
>>>> The specs with respect to stability are identical to the 626 (the
>>>> alternative), but I don’t know how it will perform in practice. It
>>>> can take 3 grids.
>>>>
>>>> The holder will be used for screening of a larger number of cryo
>>>> samples. Cryo tomography is not a requirement. Due to possible
>>>> contamination during unloading, the idea is not to reuse screened
>>>> grids – once plunging conditions are established, a second grid
>>>> frozen under identical conditions on a reproducible plunging bot
>>>> will be used for data collection on a higher end cryo TEM with DED
>>>> and autoloader. We hope to accelerate the cryo screening by loading
>>>> 3 grids at once instead of one at a time and to reduce frosting and
>>>> ice contamination with less cryo transfers. This step aims at
>>>> offloading screening from the expensive high end tools and to
>>>> maximize their beam time for productive data collection. The holder
>>>> will also be used at room temperature for negative stained samples
>>>> before cryo screening, both of which will act as triage steps for
>>>> samples of insufficient quality.
>>>>
>>>>     Matthias
>>>>
>>>
>>>
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>>
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