Spark® Multimode Microplate Reader
Increase your productivity for advanced research and drug discovery with Spark, the first multimode microplate reader with integrated cooling.
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Not for bacterial cell counting, great for everything else!
Fluorometric DNA Concentration, bacterial enumeration, metabolic assay
We had originally hoped to use this for bacterial enumerations but our cells were too small to work well for this application. Instead, we've used it for metabolite assays and for Quant-It dsDNA quantification. The software is easy to use and it's easy to create new methods as needed. I love being able to use plates for DNA quantification rather than individual tubes in a fluorometer. Overall, the instrument works great. It's just unfortunate that we can't use it for cell counting.
Review Date: 7 Dec 2023 | Tecan
Tecan Spark is the plate reader of choice for luminescence- and BRET-based assays.
Analysis of small molecule-receptor engagement and intracellular signaling
The Tecan Spark multimode plate reader provides high quality data for various luminescence and BRET-based assays. Compared to other plate readers in the same price range, the Spark appears to have the highest sensitivity for photon detection, which is a tremendous advantage when using less bright luciferases such as firefly, click beetle or Renilla luciferase. With very bright emitters such as nano-luciferase, the system quickly reaches the upper detection limit and the assay parameters (substrate concentration, transfection amount) must be adjusted, which can save reagents in the long run. Overall, the results are of very good quality and reproducible. The control of the plate reader is intuitive, but the interface could be improved by making the error messages more understandable. The company's after-sales service is good and responses are fast.
Review Date: 1 Sept 2023 | Tecan
Tecan journal 2017
Anisotropy and bacteria growth
Easy to use growth bacteria with te-cool system.
Review Date: 27 Mar 2023 | Tecan
Always trustworthy results, useful in other applications too
Protein Estimation
For most of the time i load protein in SDS page gel depending upon the estimation by BCA, assessed by Tecan Spark and i always gets almost same intensity of control band
Review Date: 30 Jul 2022 | Tecan
A must to have equipment in the lab
Fluorescence polarization, Kinetics
Easy to use and can achieve high quality and reproducible results.
Review Date: 8 Feb 2022 | Tecan
Can't live without it.
DNA or RNA quantification, protein quantification, enzyme assay, cell viability assay, UV-Vis...
It's a multimode microplate reader which means you can do various experiments with it. Many kinds of 96-well plates can be used but NanoQuant plates are especially useful when you measure fluorescence intensity with small volumes of 2 uL. You can also make methods for automated enzyme assays. Here's what I usually do with it: Bradford assay for protein quantification, small volume DNA or RNA quantification with NanoQuant plate, quantification of fluorescence-labeled small molecule, WST-1 assay (cytotoxicity assay, enzyme assays.
Review Date: 13 Jun 2020 | Tecan
it is handy to have in the lab.
Plate reading for ELISA and various assays, cell confluency measurement and recording
The plate reader is easy to use and straight forward. Support usually come in pretty fast too.
Review Date: 28 Jan 2020 | Tecan
Great for protein assays
Protein aggregation kinetics and protein phase separation
I have used the Tecan Spark plate reader for one year now. It is a very robust, easy-to-use instrument. When it comes to protein aggregation kinetics, life becomes so much easier with this instrument, without worrying about reproducibility. Plus, we can monitor continuously, even at physiological temperature.
Review Date: 17 Dec 2019 | Tecan
Very reliable results.
AlphaLISA
Very easy to use, very reliable results.
Review Date: 14 Feb 2019 | Tecan
Tecan Spark 10M together with Magellan are properly designed.
Biomedicine. ELISA assays
I think Tecan Spark 10M and Magellan are very user friendly in terms of software. The main advantage for me is the option to buy a GMP-accomplished version. It makes life much easier to researchers to track all the ELISA results for further audits and commercial approvals.
Review Date: 17 Jan 2019 | Tecan
Increase your productivity for advanced research and drug discovery with Spark, the first multimode microplate reader with integrated cooling. This freely configurable system gives researchers access to new techniques and features designed to enhance and streamline biochemical and cell-based workflows.
The Spark multimode microplate reader provides tailor-made solutions to suit virtually any drug discovery or advanced life sciences research application. Developed with cell-based assays in mind, it offers a host of software and hardware features, including a unique Te-Cool™ cooling module that delivers total temperature control, even below ambient.
At the heart of the instrument are Spark’s unique Fusion Optics, which combine the flexibility of monochromators with the sensitivity of filters. Designed to improve sensitivity and increase throughput, this set-up allows on-the-fly measurements, increasing productivity without compromising on data quality. This option features the latest generation QuadX Monochromators™ and dichroic mirrors which, combined with variable bandwidth selection and full wavelength flexibility, provide exceptional measurement performance and speed. This is complemented by a patent-pending High Speed Monochromator, which allows complete absorbance scans – from 200 to 1,000 nm – in under five seconds; the speed of a diode array is combined with the precision and flexibility of a monochromator, offering wide-ranging and detailed spectra with unsurpassed wavelength accuracy for rapid DNA and protein quantification.
Reliable results are dependent on a stable temperature. For most readers, the specified minimum temperature inside the measurement chamber is defined as a few degrees above ambient. This can vary significantly depending on the time of year and location, affecting your results. Temperature gradients can also occur across a microplate with many readers, leading to poor precision and variability. Spark’s innovative Te-Cool cooling module provides complete temperature control between 18 and 42 °C allowing you to maintain your specified temperature for long periods of time, for accurate and reliable results.
The Te-Cool cooling module complements Spark’s range of advanced features – including precise regulation of environmental conditions, built-in cell counting and viability assessment, and automated imaging and confluence measurements – designed to simplify your protocols and enable long-term, walkaway experiments. Productivity and reproducibility are further improved by the addition of a patented Humidity Cassette to provide evaporation protection for any SLAS-format microplate, with automated lid handling to precisely balance gas exchange and minimize the risk of contamination. These new options – combined with the ability to read up to 1,536-well microplates – ensure there is a Spark configuration to increase the productivity of your lab, both today and in the future.
The Spark multimode microplate reader offers walkaway:
- reagent dispensing
- temperature control, including the Te-Cool cooling module
- fluorescence
- fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET)
- time-resolved fluorescence (TRF)
- fluorescence polarization (FP)
- absorbance
- DNA/protein quantification
- luminescence (flash and glow)
- luminescence scanning
- multicolor luminescence
- cell counting
- live-cell imaging and in-well confluence assessment
- cell incubation
Please note that Spark is for research use only.
