Ziath, an Azenta Life Sciences company reports that the high-speed of reading and error-free decoding offered by their DataPaq™ Mirage 2D tube rack reader, around 1 second for a full 96-position rack, has made it the instrument of choice for many life science labs.
Neil Benn, Technical Director of Ziath commented “Drawing upon our long experience of designing high-performance 2D barcode readers – the Mirage employs a unique arrangement of LED lights and “light shelves” to reduce internal reflection and unwanted illumination effects. This patented optical design enables the reader to decode badly printed tubes more easily as well as to discern codes that are covered in a layer of ice. By using a high intensity of light close to the tubes, but with the light shelves blocking direct illumination of the camera, a very high contrast image can be obtained enabling most manufacturers tubes to read easily and reliably. Images are only taken in monochrome which again increases the contrast and reduces the transfer and processing time enabling the Mirage to decode a full rack of 96 tunes in less than one second”.
The Mirage provides an easy, out-of-the-box setup and is supplied pre-calibrated and ready to scan. The Mirage can scan all commonly used standard SBS format racks, and its low profile means that it can be easily added to liquid handling platforms and other automation systems. The low profile and economical price make the Mirage the perfect replacement for a traditional flatbed scanner.
Ziath specializes in the development of innovative instrumentation and software for sample management using 2D Data Matrix bar-coded tubes. These products are widely used in academic, biotech, and pharmaceutical organizations. Part of the Consumables and Instruments division of Azenta Life Sciences (Chelmsford, MA), the company is well-placed to support customers worldwide.
More information about the Zaith DataPaq™ Mirage 2D scanner can be found here.