Microinjection Manipulation System — MIS-5000

Experience Sm-o-o-o-th Pipette Movement
Smooth means there is no perceptible lag between hand and pipette. The EXFO joystick gives one-to-one response between your fingertip commands and pipette movement. And, you can set the joystick direction to the same polarity as the microscope image. The MIS-5000 Microinjection Manipulation System gives high-precision and high-speed movement without lag, drift, vibration or overshoot. Only the EXFO Burleigh micromanipulators provide this capability because we use the solid state stability of piezoelectric (PZT) technology. Customer feedback indicates this product is well suited for transgenics applications such as injecting DNA into mouse oocytes.

PZT Technology
PZT actuators are solid ceramic structures that expand under applied voltage. When controlled by EXFO Burleigh drive electronics and ergonomic control interface, extremely precise, fast, stiff and stable positioning is easily achieved. The position of each PZT actuator is determined by the DC voltage applied by the power supply.

Blastocyst Injection Video
The fast response of the MIS-5000 piezo manipulator makes it possible to get a quick puncture of the blastocyst, which is critical to good injection. A slow puncture leads to collapse or deformation of the blast rather than provide a smooth, clean entry.

Video: Blastocyst injection (1.6 MB, MOV)

Pronuclear Injection Video
About 2.5 picoliters of DNA is microinjected into a mouse zygote. Again, the smoothness and rapid response of the MIS-5000 manipulator makes it easy to puncture the cytoplasmic and nuclear membranes, without causing too much damage to the zygote.

Video: Pronuclear injection (483 KB, MOV)

Components and Operational Features
The MIS-520 Micromanipulator Assembly consists of three linear stages, an approach angle pivot, a base pivot, one set of angle brackets and a pipette-holder mount. It also includes a rotation plate adapter to kinematically mount the micromanipulator at any angle. The Micromanipulator Assembly comes with 150 or 300 microns of PZT travel and 60 nm resolution in all three axes. Each linear stage, utilizing cross-roller bearings, provides 25 mm of coarse travel through a 32-thread-per-inch lead screw. The MIS-520 allows easy customization of your configuration. It can be ordered in left-sided or right-sided configuration. The three stages are assembled to provide orthogonal motion of the pipette, giving you true xyz motion. The assembly can be modified to permit the z-axis in line with the pipette axis with minimal effort. No special adapter kits are required.

The MIS-520 Micromanipulator Assembly comes with the MIS-PHM Pipette-Holder Mount that accepts pipette holders up to 9 mm in diameter. The MIS-PHM features a movable rail that allows the pipette to be easily positioned in a variety of locations. The rotational freedom of the Pipette-Holder Clamp Assembly allows you to achieve both steep and shallow angles, depending on your needs. In addition, this mechanism can accommodate a PZS-100HS PZT MicroStage to provide a fourth axis of movement needed for rapid penetration into cells with tough membranes.

The MIS-503 is ergonomically designed and balanced to provide intuitive one-to-one correspondence between fingertip commands and pipette movements (it is balanced, not spring-loaded for center return). Vertical movements are achieved by rotating the knob on the top of the joystick with the light touch of a finger. Inside the top knob is a push button that inititates an output signal through a BNC connector. This output signal is compatible with your pressure injector system or the EXFO Fast PZT option. You can specify this output signal to be either a normally open switch or TTL pulse. The standard TTL pulse is compatible with Medical Systems PLI-100 Pico Injector or equivalent. Other TTL pulses are available.

The linear stage cables of the MIS-520 Micromanipulator Assembly connect directly to the joystick using modular connectors (not shown in picture). Inverting switches make it easy to set the joystick direction to the same polarity as the microscope image.

The joystick is interchangeable with the Burleigh PCS-503 Axis Control Unit and can be used with any of the PCS-5000 Micromanipulators. A PCS-5200 or PCS-5400 Patch-Clamp Micromanipulator can be upgraded to a MIS-5000 Series Microinjection Manipulator by ordering the MIS-PCS Upgrade Kit.

The PCS-PS60 Power Supply provides a regulated, very-low-noise, constant, 60 V output for the joystick. The power supply can be shared by two micromanipulators to minimize cost and space consumption when multiple manipulators are required on the same microscope.