INHECO ODTC

The INHECO ODTC (On Deck Thermal Cycler) is a thermal cycler designed to sit on an automation deck rather than beside it. Its lid opens and closes by a horizontal move, so there is no change in height and no extra clearance needed above the instrument for a robot arm to work around.

INHECO’s Vapor Chamber Mount (VCM) is the mount behind its thermal performance — a 3D heat pipe used as a superconductive thermal cycler mount for PCR disposables. Plate compatibility depends on it: the VCM is optimised for specific PCR plates, so plate choice is not a free variable (see below).

At a glance

Temperature range	+4 °C to +99 °C
Temperature accuracy	±0.30 K at +55 °C
Temperature uniformity	±0.20 K at +55 °C, +72 °C and +95 °C
Heating rate	Max. 4.4 K/sec (96) / 5.0 K/sec (384)
Cooling rate	Max. 2.2 K/sec
Plate formats	96- and 384-well, in separate instrument variants
Interface	SiLA-compliant, with API
Revolution control	Execute a method with a timeout, open the lid, temperature logging and data retrieval

Specifications

INHECO publishes the following, beyond the temperature range, accuracy and uniformity already given in the At a glance table above — those figures are identical between the two variants.

Dimensions (H × W × L)	124.3 × 156.5 × 248 mm
Weight	Approx. 7.5 kg
Lid temperature	Ambient +5.0 K to +115 °C
DC input	24 Vdc / 1200 W
Protection class	III (per DIN EN 61140)
EMC instrument class	Group 1 / class A (industrial)

The ODTC 96 and ODTC 384 differ on a handful of figures:

ODTC 96

PCR plates	96-well, VCM optimised for specific PCR plates
Maximum volume during PCR	100 µl/well
Heating rate (average slope)	Max. 4.4 K/sec
Adjustable heating & cooling rate	0.1 K to 4.4 K/sec
Lid default temperature	+110 °C

ODTC 384

PCR plates	96- and 384-well, VCM optimised for specific PCR plates
Maximum volume during PCR	50 µl/well
Heating rate (average slope)	Max. 5.0 K/sec
Adjustable heating & cooling rate	0.1 K to 5.0 K/sec
Lid default temperature	+115 °C

INHECO notes that other PCR plate formats are available only on request.

XL variants are also offered. INHECO gives the ODTC 96 XL as 129.3 × 156.5 × 285.2 mm with otherwise identical thermal specifications.

Instrument features

• Automatic horizontal lid — opens and closes without changing the instrument’s height or footprint, which is what allows 24/7 automated operation without the lid fouling a robot arm
• Heated lid to avoid condensation, and INHECO states temperature profiles can be run with the lid open
• Automated lid pressure adjustment for different disposables and sealing options
• Automated plate ejection with exchangeable ejection bars
• Four ventilation directions — downwards, rearwards, left and right — so the instrument can be positioned without its exhaust dictating the layout

Supported methods

• Execute method with timeout — run a temperature profile, bounded by a timeout
• Open door pre-ops — prepare and open the lid so a robot can load or unload
• Enable temperature logging / Disable temperature logging — turn logging on and off around a run
• Read temperature data — retrieve the logged temperature data

The logging pair is worth using deliberately: a PCR run whose thermal trace was never captured cannot be investigated afterwards, and a run with logging left on indefinitely accumulates data nobody asked for.

Integration

Revolution drives the ODTC through its SiLA interface, which is INHECO’s own documented integration route for the instrument.

Prerequisites

• The instrument must be reachable from the Revolution host over its SiLA interface.
• The temperature profiles the schedule calls must already exist — profiles are programmed with INHECO’s own software, not from Revolution.
• Plate type must be one the VCM in your instrument is optimised for.

If you need more of this instrument driven from a schedule, get in touch — the driver is extended on demand.