Spring 2011:CellFinder
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Contents
3/14- 3/18 Status Report
This week
- tried to find connectors for rectangular capillaries
- looks like they don't exist, and it seems like we should be able to detect cells using round capillaries anyways, so we'll try that route first (will be easier to interface with the rest of the instrument)
- built an LED circuit using a voltage regulator.
- played around with the phototransistor
- first tried a transimpedance amplifier, but some issues with the op-amp circuit, so we debugged for a while
- we will try to use the other amplification circuit from the DNA melting lab
- it looks like our output from the phototransistor is ~1-10 nA, so we may need quite a lot of gain in our circuit
- ordered things from industrial fiberoptics:
- LED
- phototransistors
- optical fiber
- still need to order:
- epoxy
- solenoid valves
Next week
- finish circuitry for the phototransistor
- start playing around with capillaries/attaching LED and phototransistor to capillaries? (need beads, microscope setup)
- things we will want to answer in the coming weeks:
- effect of capillary diameter on detection sensitivity?
- effect of flow rate on sensitivity?
- effect of bead size on sensitivity?
Risks and issues
- we have little electronics experience, and Jenn needs an electronics review :)
3/21 - 3/25 Status Report
This week
- finished building the electronics circuit
