Category: News

RS2000 CLE C – new X-Ray tube

Dear IVIF users,

The replacement of the X-ray tube and the high tension cable on the RS2000 were successfully done yesterday. It is now working properly, but please pay attention to the new dose map below.

Again looking at dose map you can easily see that the RS2000 can replace the cesium irradiator for mice and cell irradiation. 

  • MICE: we have an homogenous irradiation of about 1.74 Gy / min using the rectangular RAD+ chamber

  • CELLS : Depending your dose and size of your plate you can easily use the shelf at different positions (see dose map below): For example a cell irradiation of 10 Gy can last about 10 min on the LISA1 Cesium irradiator (about 1 Gy/min at low level) while with the RS2000 a petri dish placed at the center of the shelf level 4 can receive 10 Gy in about 2 min.

Do not hesitate to ask for help,

best regards

An update on the RS2000 irradiator

20th of July

Dear Users,

Following up on the issue of the RS2000, we will replace the high tension cable and the X-Ray tube of the RS2000 this Thursday 23rd of July. The intervention will last a day and we will keep you updated on post-maintenance test so that you can come back to your normal routine on the irradiator. Sorry again for the inconvenience.

For people that didn’t move yet from the old Ceasium irradiator to the RS2000, please be aware that the RS-2000 is able to replace the Ceasium irradiator for mice and cells and that the irradiation on the RS-2000 is even higher and such shorter than to the Ceasium one. Moreover, it is also safer as it is not a permanent source of radiation. X-rays are emitted only when the intrument is ON.

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June 2020–

Dear IVIF users,

The RS2000 irradiator has been repaired but still requires the change of expensive parts. We can not guarantee any fault.

Indeed the reparation has been performed by ourselves as the technician in charge of the irradiator is still not able to travel.
The issue was the formation of an electrical arc at the cable linking the generator to the X-ray tube. We managed to clean up the cable and apply high tension grease to it for insulation. We could run a warm up and an exposure test. We are still waiting for the technician to come back to us to replace the defective parts.
Meanwhile and to play safe, we have set a threshold of 160 kV instead of 225 kV. This means that the dose rate is lower than usual ( 1.08 Gy/min and not 1.8 Gy/min). Please take this value into account for your future experiments. Please report to us any issue on the instrument and do not hesitate to ask for help or replacement on the Ceasium iraadiator

Thank you for your patience.

RS2000 out of order

Dear IVIF users,

Unfortunately the RS2000 irradiator showed an ARC fault again and as such we strongly discourage any further use. In case of very precious ongoing experiments we can make use of the cesium irradiator. Contact us for further information. 

Thank you for your understanding.

COVID-19 lockdown exit phase 1

Dear IVIF Users,

The IVIF on-site activity has been authorized by the Dean under certains restrictions and specific sanitary rules:

  1. Researchers willing to use the facility must notify their own PI and must receive an official authorization from the FBM.
  2. Do not use the facility if you are sick or if you have been in contact with a COVID-19 infected person in the last 14 days.
  3. Make your reservation on IRIS before arriving. Only the person that booked the instrument is allowed to use it.
  4. Remote work will remain the norm until further notice. As such, please let us know ahead of time (by Friday at noon for the following week and only after having received the authorization from the FBM) if you need us to be physically there to help you. Be aware that most instruments can be remotely controlled. If you have issues please contact us.
  5. Only one person at the time in each room, as such if you need assistance we will first try remotely and only if required we will come. In that case, for offices outside of the animal facility you will need to exit the room first after cleaning up the working zone.
  6. Our activity depends on the animal facility operation, so please make sure you are following the rules suggested by the animal care takers (contact francis.derouet@unil.ch for info). Please pay extra attention to save masks as much as possible (2/day/person).
  7. For analysis workstations located outside the animal facility, only one person at the time is allowed. Make sure you respect the following rules:

thank you for your understanding, stay safe,

Alexandre