SONICC Protein Crystal Detection
SONICC Protein Crystal Detection
Find Hidden Crystals
Even Those Not Visible by The Eye
Discover crystals buried in precipitate or crystals not visible by the naked eye.
Don't Miss Hits
Detect Sub-Micron Crystals
Detect thin crystals, microcrystals <1 μm, and crystals obscured in birefringent LCP.
Target the Right Crystals
Distinguish Between Protein or Salt
Know if your detected crystals are protein or not using integrated UV imaging.
Remove the guesswork.
SONICC finds protein crystals that other technologies cannot.
The ultimate imaging technology in visualizing protein crystals, Second Order Nonlinear Imaging of Chiral Crystals (SONICC) definitively finds crystals buried in precipitate or submicron crystals naked to the eye. Two powerful technologies, Second Harmonic Generation (SHG) and Ultraviolet Two-Photon Excited Fluorescence (UV-TPEF) are combined together in a completely automated imager to quickly image your high throughput crystallization plates and positively identify protein crystals.
Crystals appear white against a stark black background, helping you to identify crystals even in murky environments. SONICC can detect extremely thin crystals, microcrystals <1 μm, and crystals obscured in birefringent LCP.
Major pharmaceutical and academic research labs worldwide find SONICC to be extremely successful, cost-effective, and efficient.
Find Hidden Crystals That You May Have Missed Before
The unique imaging properties of SONICC allow crystal detection in almost any optical environment, including opaque and turbid environments. Only chiral crystals, such as proteins, produce a signal using second harmonic generation (SHG). This imaging technology reveals very thin protein crystals or those buried under precipitant.
Detect Sub-Micron Crystals
SONICC can detect nano-crystals with the use of high numerical aperture objectives. Small crystals that may be indistinguishable from precipitant can be clearly differentiated as shown in the image to the right. This positive hit indicates a condition for further optimization, which may have been missed without SONICC technology.
Distinguish Salt Crystals from Protein Crystals
The UV-TPEF (Ultraviolet Two-Photon Excited Fluorescence) mode is analogous to traditional UV fluorescence and creates images based on the fluorescence of UV excited amino acids such as tryptophan.
UV-TPEF is a multiphoton imaging technique that uses longer wavelengths of excitation providing greater plate compatibility, less damage to your samples, and confocal imaging.
