Re: Design specifications for an imaging core

Posted by Hu Xian on
URL: http://confocal-microscopy-list.275.s1.nabble.com/Design-specifications-for-an-imaging-core-tp5008946p5023466.html

Dear Ian,

We just move into our new microscope room this Feb... It was a bit over kill, but in the end we are rather happy with it.

Here’s what we did and our considerations, roughly,

1. Partition : We have one big room, and 11/12 microscopes. So we planned to have partitions(one of the early design figure :http://img707.imageshack.us/img707/206/foodprintv5copy.jpg). Rooms are separated by panels (that’s light proof and sound proof) rather than curtains as the room is a 10K clean room. Each partition has 14 standard power point, 1 three phase power point, two internet port, two intranet port, centralized 100% CO2 distributor and independent light control. Cubicles are painted black, as black as possible.
2. General Room Specification: 10K clean room, 0.2um HEPA filter, temperature 22 degrees +/-1(24/7)(heat load is measured by actual power consumption of each system), humidity 55% +/-5%(24/7).
   

And the pics /details of the outcome:

1. Shoe shelf at entrance: http://img263.imageshack.us/img263/249/004mzb.jpg
2. Central Island is illuminated all the time, for simple sample prep: http://img249.imageshack.us/img249/1339/005oo.jpg
3. Room Panels: http://img641.imageshack.us/img641/7631/006jqi.jpg
4. All Black: http://img28.imageshack.us/img28/6435/007gmh.jpg
5. Dry cabinet is still needed: http://img227.imageshack.us/img227/8225/008wd.jpg
   

Tips:  

Discuss with vendors and staff/student who’s going to use the microscopes, as much as you can, there is always things that you will miss out, there is always things that you forget to consider.

No matter what your final plan is, if it involves major construction or re-construction. Check back to contractors regularly while the room is being build, they miss out things, a lot of things.




Hope it helps.

Thanks.

Regards,
HU Xian,Edna



On 5/8/10 10:02 PM, "George McNamara" <geomcnamara@...> wrote:

Hi Martin,

In addition to the items mentioned by others ...

* fluorescence microscopy should be done in semi-darkness - the
overhead fluorescent lighting is mostly useful to find stuff that has
fallen on the floor

* track lights, with yellow or orange filters, for each station, with
dimmer switch near where each light is being aimed at. Several
independent lights per station - one for each side of scope, plus one
for keyboard and notebook area(s), one for any prep bench.

* lasers - I believe lasers are best kept in a cool room, 20 C.
Unfortunately, many users find 20 C cold (not perfectly correlated to
body mass index, but not bad approximation). Might be a bit less of
an issue when the lasers are in their own cooling box. Your field
service engineers may not like this but one option is to put the
lasers in an adjacent room, with its own cooling.

* multiphoton microscope - "do not look at laser with remaining eye"
- MP lasers and potentially high power CW lasers (especially if
EasySTED is implemented on everyone's current generation confocal's -
PubMed 20173926) have the potential to end up in someone's eye. this
would be bad. Whether curtains, baffles, or (dare I imagine it?) well
trained users, you want to avoid blinding someone. See the laser ->
eye damage track record at US DoE national physics labs for proof
that this is an issue.

* lots of power on the walls, and the right kind of power (i.e. 220 V
for certain confocal systems). Come to think of it, the laser room
would also be a great place for one or more big UPS's for the
facility (for one thing, help reduce noise - see also next item).

*** Don't forget about VIP tours! For one thing, this amply justifies
big flat screen monitor(s) at each station. Also, that the rooms be
designed to be quiet - HVAC is especially a problem here - most
research labs are very noisy.

Best wishes,

George


At 10:01 AM 5/5/2010, you wrote:
>Dear All--
>
>Some space here is being remodeled for use as an imaging core and
>it'd be helpful to know what other institutions have specified (or
>WISH they had specified) as requirements for the space.  (It'd also
>be helpful to know what people think, in retrospect, was a waste of money.)
>
>One thing that particularly concerns me is temperature stability--we
>really don't want 5-degree C air from the air-conditioning system
>blasting down onto a microscope that's in the middle of a z-series.
>However, I can only guess at the limits of acceptability.  What have
>other groups specified and found works?  I expect that saying "hold
>the set-point +/- 0 degrees" isn't going to be helpful to the contractor.
>
>--My recollection is that the list has covered similar topics in the
>recent past, but the search terms I've tried aren't coming up with
>the hits I'm looking for.
>
>Thanks--
>
>Martin Wessendorf
>--
>Martin Wessendorf, Ph.D.                   office: [phone]
>Assoc Prof, Dept Neuroscience                 lab: [phone]
>University of Minnesota             Preferred FAX: [phone]
>6-145 Jackson Hall, 321 Church St. SE    Dept Fax: [phone]
>Minneapolis, MN  55455                    e-mail: martinw@...







George McNamara, Ph.D.
Image Core Manager
Analytical Imaging Core Facility
University of Miami, Miller School of Medicine
Miami, FL 33136
gmcnamara@...
geomcnamara@...
305-243-8436 office
http://www.sylvester.org/AICF (Analytical Imaging Core Facility)
http://www.sylvester.org/AICF/pubspectra.zip (the entire 2000+
spectra .xlsx file is in the zip file)
http://home.earthlink.net/~geomcnamara

Best Regards,

HU Xian,Edna

Microscopy Core Manager, Research Centre of Excellence in Mechanobiology
Temasek Laboratories, Level 5 ,5A, Engineering Drive 1, Singapore 117411, DID:6601-1282, Email:edna@...