Posted by
Craig Brideau on
Feb 03, 2009; 7:36pm
URL: http://confocal-microscopy-list.275.s1.nabble.com/Multi-user-Imaging-room-plans-tp2264638p2265183.html
We have a fairly large multi-user room that is subdivided into four compartments with curtains. I second what everyone else has said an make the following recommendations:
Paint the walls matte black. We found this made a huge difference in containing stray light leakage around the curtains, especially light from computer monitors.
For the lighting, have dimmable pot lights for each curtained zone with sliders in the zone to dim the lights. Just on/off control is not enough; often you want slight lighting and that's where the dimmers come in handy. Combining this with on/off fluorescent lighting is also handy; use the bright fluorescent lights when doing setup and the like, then switch to the pot lights for experiments.
For the curtains; triple layer -two heavy black walls with a heavy duty fire-retardant core, especially if you are using ultrafast lasers for two photon or similar.
A chilled water supply may be useful for removing excess heat from specific equipment. If you put a copper tube serpentine by the exhaust vents of a particularly hot piece of equipment and circulate chilled water you can keep control of point heat sources. Otherwise just make sure you have ample air conditioning. Remember that people are significant sources of heat in addition to equipment!
Make sure air intakes and outputs are well diffused; stray air currents from the ventilation can cause problems with vibration.
You need excellent temperature and humidity control. Humidity should be maintained from 20-40% and temperature should be stable to two degrees or better.
Have a ready supply of small cheap flashlights handy!
Put a small table/cabinet outside the room with common supplies so people can get organized before entering the room.
Keep a supply of lens tissue and cleaner by each microscope.
We bought dim phosphorescent sticky paper; I cut strips off of them and stuck them to the corners of all the tables and by the exits in the rooms. When the lights first go out they glow dimly enough to show you where the edges are so you don't run into things, but not so brightly that it interferes with your experiments. By the time they have run out of glow (last about an hour after exposure to fluorescent lighting for a few hours) the users eyes have dark adjusted anyway.
By the best passive damped anti-vibration tables you can afford. This is especially critical if the lab is not in a basement, or if there are sources of noise nearby. The active systems are useful in extreme cases but usually just thick tables (18") and gas shocks will handle most issues.
Shipping and receiving access! Do you have access to cargo elevators and sufficiently wide doors to easily get equipment and tables in and out of the rooms? Our lab section didn't have a proper cargo elevator so our anti-vibration tables had to be swung in by crane. Not cheap!
Hope this helps!
Craig
On Tue, Feb 3, 2009 at 12:00 PM, Carl Boswell
<[hidden email]> wrote:
Aside from stray light issues, do your homework
regarding the electrical needs for each instrument (including outlet/plug
compatibility) and the heat output, usually identified as total
watts. It will be imperitive that your room has the air handling capacity
to move the heat generated by all those instruments out of the room. High
ceilings help.
Large capacity uninterruptable power supplies (UPS)
would be crucial also. I've had good luck with Powerware hardware, and
Power Pros www.powerproinc.com, have
been very helpful with custom setups. Unless you have GaAs PMT's, there is
no need to paint the room black.
Carl
Carl A. Boswell, Ph.D.
Molecular and Cellular Biology
University of
Arizona
520-954-7053
FAX 520-621-3709
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Tuesday, February 03, 2009 10:46
AM
Subject: Multi-user Imaging room
plans?
We are
contemplating building a multi-user imaging room containing 3
confocals, 2 2-photon confocals, 1-2 widefield scopes. We
would isolate parts of the room with curtains.
Has anyone
constructed such a room and can send plans and/or recommendations about
construction, utilities, etc? Photos might help too.
Thanks for your
help.
Milton
Charlton
Milton P. Charlton, Professor
Physiology
Department
Medical Science Building #3308
University of Toronto
1
King's College Circle
Toronto, ON, M5S1A8
Canada
tel:
416-978-6355
fax:
416-978-4940
[hidden email]