Oxylab
Oxygen Electrode Control unit
- PC operated Oxylab oxygen electrode control unit
- Suitable for liquid and gas-phase measurements in cellular respiration & photosynthesis research
- Sophisticated electronics for automated intensity control of LH36/2R and LH11/2R light sources
- Compact design with integral electronics & magnetic stirrer
- Real time chart recorder emulation of O2 signal & optional auxiliary input
- Custom Windows® software for hardware control & data analysis
- Compatible with all Hansatech Instruments oxygen electrode chambers
Overview
The Oxylab oxygen electrode control unit is designed to provide PC control of oxygen uptake or evolution measurements across a broad range of applications from studies of mitochondrial and cellular respiration to measurements of isolated chloroplast suspensions or solid state leaf samples in photosynthesis research. In conjunction with user-friendly Oxylab32 data acquisition and system configuration software, the Oxylab control unit provides an effective tool for the measurement of oxygen signals from the S1 Clark type oxygen electrode disc mounted in one of a range of liquid and gas-phase electrode chambers with quick and easy system calibration and configuration. Simultaneous recording of an optional auxiliary input signal (e.g. temperature, pH, chlorophyll fluorescence, TPP+ or other specific ion electrodes etc) is also possible using the appropriate apparatus.
A system comprises an Oxylab control unit linked to the serial port of an Windows® PC. The control unit features a built-in magnetic stirrer (for liquid-phase measurements) and all the electronics required to control and measure the signal from the S1 oxygen electrode disc.
Oxylab is compatible with all existing liquid and gas-phase Hansatech oxygen electrode chambers and accessories. In addition, Oxylab features light source control capabilities providing automated intensity changes of Hansatech Instruments LED light sources LH11/2R and LH36/2R. Additional tools within the Oxylab32 software package allow editing of PFD (photon flux density) tables providing complete automation of complex light intensity changes during light response curves.
A custom Windows® software package, Oxylab32, controls all major hardware and data acquisition functions including control over the gain and back-off applied to the electrode control unit with simple calibration routines for both liquid and gas-phase measurements. Data from the S1 electrode disc, optional auxiliary input signal and temperature signal from the QTP1 PAR/Temperature probe sensor are plotted as a chart recorder emulations in "real-time" with post-measurement data analysis tools included within the program. Completed experiments may be exported as an ASCII file which then may be opened in other Windows® data analysis applications such as Excel®.
Oxylab32 Software
Oxylab is supplied with a comprehensive Windows software package which provides mouse control of all major hardware functions during measurement.
Light intensity changes are defined by entering required intensity values and step duration settings into custom PFD tables. Experimental light protocols from 1-20 steps may be defined with automatic (or manual adjustment for the LS2 white light source) of light intensity. When switched to automatic control, the light source is calibrated using a 2-point calibration routine performed by entering low and high intensity values measured from the QTP1 PAR sensor in order to obtain a µmol/bit calibration factor.
The QTP1 sensor connects directly to the rear of the Oxylab control unit and the intensity values are read from a panel meter on the PFD table itself.
Oxygen rate data obtained at each light level may be viewed as a light response curve using the special Quantum Yield tool function within the software package.
Oxygen calibration is achieved by following a series of on screen prompts to establish the signal level from a prepared S1 electrode disc in air-saturated water followed by the signal level in zero oxygen. Gain and back-off are automatically adjusted in order to give the best measurement resolution. Once calibrated, data from the S1 oxygen electrode, the temperature signal from the QTP1 probe sensor and/or optional auxiliary signals are logged to the PC at user definable intervals and presented as a real-time chart recorder emulation in user defined calibrated units and also in numerical format in digital panel meters.
Data analysis tools are provided for spot measurement of trace values. A rate measurement tool provides easy estimation of oxygen rates over any user-defined interval. Rate data may also be plotted against the PFD of the light step in µmol m-2 s-1 in order to determine apparent quantum yield of the sample. Data can be exported to other applications either via the Windows clipboard or as an ASCII delimited file.