The Picovitro plate
All Picovitro plates are constructed of the same three basal elements, a glass bottom plate, a silicon microgrid that make up the walls of the wells and a semipermeable membrane to avoid evaporation and facilitate gas exchange. The glass bottom and the silicon microgrid are bonded together and thereby binds chemically to each other by ion bonds which makes the joint absolutely leakage free. The choice of materials gives the Picovitro plate unique features that are important for maintenance of the cells as well as providing excellent opportunities for a wide range of methods for observation (analysis) e.g. microscopy, immune detection, fluorescence detection and PCR. In addition, all wells in the Picovitro plate have micro fabricated numbering for convenient and exact tracking of each individual cell.
The glass bottom gives the plate an excellent surface for cells to adhere to without the special treatment required for plastic. Furthermore, if the cells of interest are especially sensitive to the characteristics of the surface, the Picovitro plate is easily coated with the appropriate surface molecules. Another advantage with using glass is its optical properties that make the plate terrific for scanning and microscopy (including confocal microscopy).