July 30, 2008 (Peabody, Mass.) -- From the exhibition hall at the 2008 Microscopy and Microanalysis Conference in Albuquerque, New Mexico, JEOL USA will demonstrate – via remote operation – three of its more than 30 JEOL TEMs currently using Sirius™ Remote TEM software and internet or wireless connections. Visitors to the booth will be able to perform real-time operation of the JEM-2200FS Aberration-corrected TEMs at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee and Lehigh University or the JEM-2100F at Northwestern University.
Remote operation makes it possible for universities and research labs to share microscope time with students or researchers from other organizations. At Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the JEM-2200FS Aberration-corrected JEOL TEM is accessed by members of the AtlanTICC Alliance, a sustainable energy research consortium comprising Imperial College London, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta USA, and the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee, USA. At the University of Texas Medical Branch, the Biosafety Level 3 laboratory allows scientists to remotely operate the cryo-TEM to examine deadly viruses from outside the containment area or from halfway around the world.
JEOL developed remote TEM operation in 1998, and has since introduced Sirius, which was first used to operate a TEM 6000 miles away from the 2005 M&M conference center in Hawaii. The Sirius package consists of a simple instrument control knobset and PC computer outfitted with a standard network card. The use of wireless broadband technology makes it possible to operate the microscope from non-traditional settings outside of the lab environment – a Sirius configured TEM can be operated from nearly anywhere.
In addition to the ongoing remote TEM demonstrations on the convention floor, a special tutorial session for Practical Remote In Situ Microscopy (PRISM) will be held on Monday, August 4, at 5:30 p.m. with the participation of Dr. Larry Allard of Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Protochips, manufacturer of a new in-situ heating holder.