CAMERA SYSTEM FOR TWO-DIMENSIONAL ELECTROPHORESIS GELS

WHILE A VARIETY OF SCANNERS AND CAMERA SYSTEMS HAVE BEEN DESCRIBED FOR ACQUIRING TWO-DIMENSIONAL ELECTROPHORETIC GEL PATTERNS FOR DISPLAY, ANALYSIS, INTERCOMPARISON, AND REPRODUCTION, NONE SOLVES ALL OF THE PROBLEMS OF IMAGE ACQUISITION AND IMAGE IDENTIFICATION IN A SATISFACTORY MANNER. THIS PROPOSAL IS FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF A 70-MM PRECISION PIN-REGISTERED CAMERA SYSTEM FOR PHOTOGRAPHING TWO-DIMENSIONAL ELECTROPHORETIC PATTERNS. A SECOND OPTICAL PATH INCLUDES IN THE NEGATIVE A CRT-GENERATED IDENTIFICATIONAND DATA DISPLAY AREA. A UNIQUE DESIGN REDUCES LENS FLARE TO A MINIMUM. USING A THREE-COLOR FILTER SYSTEM, COLOR SEPARATION NEGATIVES MAY ALSO BE MADE IN SEQUENCE FOR SUBSEQUENT COLOR REPRODUCTION. THE CAMERA SYSTEM IS ALSO A 70-MM PRINTER THAT EXPOSES POSITIVE FILM TO THE NEGATIVE FILM. THE POSITIVES MAY BE VIEWED AND INTERCOMPARED ON A MERGING COMPARATOR, OR DIGITIZED FOR COMPUTERIZED IMAGE ANALYSIS. INCORPORATED INTO THE PRINTING SYSTEM IS A UNIQUE TECHNIQUE FOR REMOVING DENSE BACKGROUND AREAS SUCH ASMAY EXIST IN SILVER-STAINED GELS. THE SYSTEM IS FLEXIBLE RETAINS THE ORIGINAL IMAGE FOR STUDY OR REPRODUCTION. ONE CENTRALIZED DIGITIZING SCANNER CAN SERVE NUMEROUS REMOTE 70-MM GEL CAMERAS.