Narishige Needle Processors Catalog:
Needle Pullers, Micropipette Grinders and Microforges

Micropipette Grinders, or Microgrinders, are typically used for beveling borosilicate glass microcapillary injection needles and metal electrodes, yielding both a sharper needle and a larger opening.

A whetstone-type diamond grinding disk is spun by a stabilized variable-speed motor which minimizes irregular movements on the grinding plane and allows for either fast grinding or ultra-precision polishing. Most include a coarse/fine micromanipulator for easier and delicate processing. New water filling and drainage mechanisms are included to prevent clogging or the accumulation of shavings, while providing continuous lubrication of the grinding operation, and making the apparatus as a whole much easier to use.

Some models include a protractor mounted on the needle holder fixing section, making it easy to set the required grinding angle as well as an adapter for vertical grinding. An integral microscope allows magnification to visualize the processing of the tip.

For Microinjection Needles, Patch Clamp Electrodes & microtip tools Individual pullers (both horizontal and vertical types) vary either the magnetic field via an electromagnetic solenoid or the amount of weight as well as the power level to a heating element to produce the proper length and diameter tip on the resulting needle. Once these wide-ranging tension and heat settings have been perfected for the particular application, the highly accurate and precise reproducibility of the settings allows for easy and quick mass production of identical needles or electrodes of uniform quality with tip sizes ranging from the micron level to tenths of a micron for various experimental purposes.

Available pullers in the catalog allow for processing of glass capillaries ranging from 1mm to 10mm in diameter with varying wall thicknesses as well as multi-barreled electrodes. Most have either single pull or multi-pull functionality and can be used in microinjection for transgenetics, patch clamp, nerve center experiments, In Vitro Fertilization (IVF), intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) and many other applications.

A microforge is a versatile instrument designed specifically for the fabrication and processing of glass micropipettes and other related microtools for use in patch pipette tip polishing, tip size reduction (for holding pippettes), contact stretching (large tip sharpening), tip bending, tip sealing, in vitro fertilization (IVF), intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI), and pipette production in a variety of other pipette configurations.

Narishige microforges use advanced design and manufacturing to provide an ultra-fine finish to microelectrode tips for patch clamp applications by eliminating imperfections on the microelectrode surface which would otherwise damage delicate membranes when making tight patch seals. Their design makes locating and polishing the pipette under magnification extremely easy.

Fire polishing of patch pipettes is the single most important factor for forming a stable giga-seal in patch clamp recording ? even more important than the type of glass capillary used. Narishige microforges provide superb seals with a wide variety of cells. Both whole cell patch pipettes and single channel patch pipettes can be conveniently polished to the highest quality and reproducibility.

Holding pipettes generally have large blunt tips with a small opening, which are used to hold a free-floating cell in place prior to microinjection by applying a low-pressure suction to the rear of the pipette. Production of holding pipettes involves squaring it off, large bore flame polishing, and tip reducing.

Often a beveled large bore pipette is not sharp enough to penetrate a cell without damaging the area around the pipette. A sharp point can be formed on the beveled tip to assist the penetration of the cell; this process is referred to as contact stretching.

These include prewashed and sterilized glass capillary tubing of various sizes both with and without internal fibers, which are used to aid in back-filling needles, glass rods, and replacement parts for needle pullers including various heater replacements like coiled heaters, straight heaters, platinum wire heaters, and replacement Kanthal wire.