Decloaking Chamber

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About

The Decloaking Chamber is an excellent tool for HIER. The proper use of heat and pressure in conjunction with the appropriate buffer solutions is of the utmost importance for consistent immunohistochemistry (IHC) staining. The Decloaking Chamber is designed to optimize and standardize antibody staining procedures and has been engineered to pass strict laboratory safety and quality control requirements. Temperature, pressure and time can be monitored and recorded with the Decloaking Chamber to produce consistent staining.

Standardized Results

• Crisp and even staining
• Very gentle on tissues
• Reproducible results
• Reduction of false negatives

A Complete Quality Controlled System

• HIER buffer, pH indicators change color with temperature
• Two-step deparaffinization and retrieval buffers
• Steam monitor strips for temperature verification
• Audible alert upon run completion

CE Listed, ETL approved, U.S. patent number 6,580,056, June 17, 2003

Decloaking Chamber™ NxGen

The Decloaking Chamber™ NxGen has been designed for heat-induced epitope retrieval (HIER) and ease of use. It has 5 discrete temperature settings ranging between 60ºC and 110ºC with user programmable times. The 110ºC antigen retrieval protocol can be completed from start to finish in under an hour. With a 72 total slide capacity and only minutes of hands-on time per run, the NxGen offers a walk-away capability similar to fully automated staining instruments.

The Decloaking Chamber NxGen transfers run data to a USB drive for export to a user’s computer. The run data recorded includes the date and time per run with temperature and pressure readings throughout. With the Decloaking Chamber NxGen recalling the settings from the last run, a quick start of the same protocol is possible.

Decloaking Chamber NxGen System Specifications

Decloaking Chamber™ Plus (Discontinued)

The Decloaking Chamber™ Plus offers a combination of complete walk-away and quality control capabilities, ensuring optimal antigen retrieval with superior and consistent results. This system features a cooling fan for more rapid antigen retrieval, producing results in as little as 35 minutes. An optional stainless steel rack holder allows easy removal of plastic slide containers. Furthermore, a USB port enables the laboratory to utilize a flash drive to track and save run data for quality control purposes. The pressure gauge has a new feature in which the needle remains at the highest pressure reading during the run, validating that antigen retrieval has occurred properly. When the procedure is complete, an audible beep alerts the user. The Decloaking Chamber™ Plus, with up to 96-slide capacity, is well suited for high-throughput antigen retrieval.

Decloaking Chamber™ Plus System Specifications

Decloaking Chamber™ Pro (Discontinued)

A Digital Programmable Pressure System for HIER. Specifically for heat-induced epitope retrieval, the Decloaking Chamber Pro is an excellent tool for optimized, consistent immunohistochemistry staining, in conjunction with the appropriate buffer solution.

Decloaking Chamber™ Pro System Specifications

Ancillaries for Decloaking Chamber NxGen

Ancillaries for Decloaking Chamber Pro / Plus

Quality Control Strips

Steam Monitor Strips
The heat and pressure sensitive steam strip allows the end-user to monitor both pressure and heat inside the Decloaking Chamber. The best temperature for a Steam Monitor strip to show quality control is 110ºC +/- 5ºC. It is at this temperature and relative pressure that a dark brown to black color is achieved. Lower temperature and pressure will produce a lighter strip. The steam strip can be dated and recorded for laboratory and CAP inspections.

QC Heat Tested Strips
The pH of retrieval solutions at high temperatures can be critical for proper IHC staining. However, the pH of retrieval solutions can change at high temperature. To assure quality control and consistent staining, Biocare Medical has developed heat-tested strips that give accurate and true pH at high temperatures. The pH of a solution at a certain temperature can be recorded on a daily basis to comply with JCOHA and CAP recommendations.

Microscope Slides

For HIER procedures, it is necessary to use slides that have a strong positive charge to ensure tissue adherance.

Each lot of Kling-on slides is quality controlled to ensure a positive charge that is ideal for tissue adherance but also keeps background to a minimum.

Kling-on slides have a stronger charge than poly-L-lysine, provide a more consistent charge lot to lot, have a frosted white portion for labeling and work well in today’s aggressive HIER procedures using pressure cookers.

Microtiter Plate Platform™

The Microtiter Plate Platform facilitates antigen retrieval for free floating sections in preparation for IHC or IF and is particularly useful for whole brain sections. The platform holds microtiter plates containing tissues away from the source of heat during antigen retrieval in an HIER device. This allows for more even, standardized results for immunohistochemistry and immunofluorescence (IF) staining techniques. It has been rigorously tested for heat stability and is ISO compliant.

Ordering Information

This quick and informative videos series shows how easy it is to unpack and operate the Decloaking Chamber NxGen.

DC NxGen New Installation
With only a few minutes of unpacking, the DC NxGen will be ready to perform heat induced epitope retrieval (HIER) on microscope slides. This video shows what is in the package and how to unpack the unit.

DC NxGen Set-up and Loading
See how easy it is to operate the Decloaking Chamber NxGen. The video below demonstrates the quick set-up and proper loading of the Decloaking Chamber in order to perform heat induced epitope retrieval (HIER) on microscope slides.

DC NxGen Run Reporting
The DC NxGen comes with advanced easy-to-use run reporting software. See how to use the software and what reports you can create from the DC NxGen data.

Decloaking Chamber Manuals

If you need technical assistance, please contact technical support.