Infrastructural Centre

Cellular Electrical Engineering

Part of the Network of Research and Infrastructural Centres of the University of Ljubljana. The main purpose is the study of interactions between electromagnetic fields and living organisms.

Reserve a lab or equipment

Cell and tissue electroporation for electrochemotherapy and gene electrotransfection

Development of electrical equipment and electrodes for research and clinical applications

Design of microelectrodes, microchambers, and microstructures for electric pulse application

External researchers and companies wishing to use our instruments and facilities should first contact Duša Hodžić to arrange access and an account.

Laboratories

Seven specialized laboratories equipped for cell cultures, microbiology, lipid bilayers, physiological measurements, and hardware development.

Cell Laboratory 1

Cell Laboratory 2

Cell Laboratory 3

Microbiological Laboratory

Laboratory for Lipids and Tissues

Laboratory for Physiological Measurements

Laboratory for Hardware and Software Development

Electroporators

Commercial pulse generators for electroporation research, covering a range of voltage amplitudes, pulse shapes, and application modes.

Electrocell B10 [Leroy biotech]

The ELECTROcell B10 HVLV is a pulse generator able to generate high-voltage short monopolar and bipolar pulses used in electroporation treatments. Amplitude and duration of the positive and negative pulse can be controlled separately. The interface is a touch screen which enables easy input pulse parameters. Pulses can be delivered by a foot pedal controller or via touch-screen. ELECTROcell B10 Manual

Datasheet (PDF)

Gemini X2 [Harvard apparatus BTX]

Gemini X² electroporator is a pulse generator, capable of delivering square as well as exponentially decaying pulses. Square-voltage pulses are delivered in two voltage ranges – high and low voltage. It is easily controlled via the touchscreen. It enables saving custom protocols in its memory. The delivered voltage and the connected load are measured for each pulse. Gemini X2 Manual

Datasheet (PDF)

Vitae [Igea]

Vitae is a pulse generator able to generate square wave high-voltage pulses (amplitudes varying between 500 – 3000 V, pulse length between 50 µs – 1 ms), where applied amplitude and current are measured for each pulse separately. The pulse generator consists of a computer that runs a graphic user interface and user interacts with the device by means of the touch-screen (where probe type, pulse amplitude, length, number and repetition frequency can be selected) incorporated in the display and a double pedal. Vitae pulse generator can also be used for electroporation of smaller cells (i.e. bacteria, yeast) due to its capability to deliver pulses with higher amplitudes. Vitae Manual

Datasheet (PDF)

Neon [Invitrogen]

The Neon Transfection System is a pulse generator, able to deliver longer microsecond pulses used in gene electrotransfer treatments. The cell suspension is transferred to a special tip which contains one gold electrode. Tip is mounted on a special pipette which is inserted in the electroporation chamber which contains the other electrode. The gap between the electrodes is maximized while the surface area is minimized to reduce pH changes and heat generation. The generator comes with predefined protocols and electroporation buffers for efficient gene transfection. Special tips and electroporation chambers are packed separately and enable sterile environment. The parameters of electric pulses can be easily changed via the touchscreen. Neon Manual

Datasheet (PDF)

Jouan [Societe Jouan]

Jouan GHT 1287 generates square electric pulses, used in electroporation treatments. The applied voltage can be varied via a potentiometer and has to be calibrated for each electroporation buffer separately. It is thus necessary to monitor the applied voltage. The duration of the pulses and repetition frequency can be varied via knobs. The pulses are delivered continuously, and the pulse delivery has to be manually stopped after delivering the desired number of pulses. The pulse application can be triggered externally by using a pedal or with a knob. Jouan Manual

Datasheet (PDF)

TSS20 [Intracel]

The TSS20 Ovodyne is a square wave pulse generator used in gene transfer with electroporation. It can deliver long low-voltage pulses in the range of milliseconds. It has a built-in measurement of the impedance which enables real-time control of the sample. It has an output for two electrodes. It is light and easy to carry around. TSS20 Manual

Datasheet (PDF)

Comparison table (PDF)

Other Equipment

Flow Cytometer

Attune NxT (Life technologies).

Available are:

Excitation lasers:
- Blue (488 nm)
- Violet (405 nm)
- Red (637 nm)
Autosampler for 96 and 384 well plate measurements

Attune NxT Manual

Manual (PDF)

Spectrofluorometer – microplate reader

Microplate reader Infinite M200 (Tecan) with temperature regulation (heating) can be used for measuring absorbance and fluorescence top and bottom as well as module for cuvettes. It has monochromatic module for excitation and emission.

Available is:

Absorbance: Ex. 230-1000 nm ; OD 0-3
Fluorescence: Ex. 230-850 nm, Em. 280-850

Infinite M200 Manual

Manual (PDF)

Motorised System for Dynamic Fluorescence Microscopy Leica Thunder

Thunder Imager Live Cell system consists of fully motorized inverted fluorescent microscope DMi8 (Leica) with adaptive focus control for drift correction and fast focusing, deep-cooled 4.2 MP sCMOS Leica DFC9000 Gt fast camera, black incubator i8 BLACK LS (PeCon) with optional CO₂ and temperature control. Images are acquired with the software LAS X. As a light source, a system of 8 LED diodes, the LED8 (395, 438, 475, 511, 555, 575, 635, 730 nm) and UV light source the CoolLED pE340^fura (CoolLED) are available.

Available are:

Objectives:
- N-plan 5x/0.12 PH 0 (No. 11506303, Leica)
- HC PL FLUOTAR 10x/0.32 PH 1 (No. 11506522, Leica)
- HC PL FLUOTAR 20x/0.55 PH 2 (No. 11506518, Leica)
- HC PL FLUOTAR L 40x/0.60 Corr. (No. 11506201, Leica)
- HC PL FL 63x/0.90 Corr. (No. 11506223, Leica)
- HC FLUOTAR (340) 100x/1.30, oil (No. 11506368, Leica)
Filters:
- Filter cube DAPI (excitation: 350/50, dichroic: 400, emission: 460/50)
- Filter cube CYR71010 for use with multi-LED light sources (excitation: 436/28, 506/21, 578/24, 730/40; dichroic: 459, 523, 598, 763, emission: 473/22, 539/24, 641/78, 810/80)
- Filter cube DFT51010 for use with multi-LED light sources (excitation: 391/32, 479/33, 554/24, 638/31, dichroic: 415, 500, 572, 660, emission: 435/30, 519/25, 594/32, 695/58)
- Filter wheel LED8 with five filters (460/80, 535/79, 590/50, 642/80, 100%)

Super-resolution microscope for live cell monitoring ZEISS ELYRA 7 Lattice SIM

The Zeiss Elyra 7 system is based on the Axio Observer 7 (inverted stand) equipped with an incubator for live-cell imaging with temperature and CO₂ control. The microscope is equipped with two cooled sCMOS cameras for simultaneous two-color and sequential four-color (4-channel) imaging. The Zeiss Elyra 7 is a wide-field based super-resolution system that uses a specialized 3D Lattice illumination pattern for 3D structured-illumination (SIM) images. The lattice illumination enables faster, gentler, and deeper imaging of living specimens at high speed in Burst Mode. The SIM² processing mode can double the resolution of the regular SIM, producing images with an effective resolution down to ~60 nm in x and y and ~200nm in z. The Zeiss Elyra 7 system also enables total internal reflection fluorescence microscopy (TIRFM) and single-molecule localization microscopy (SMLM). Available are: Objectives:

EC Plan-Neofluar 10x/0.3 M27 (FWD=5.2mm)
Plan-Apochromat 20x/0.8 M27 (FWD=0.55mm)
Plan-Apochromat 40x/1.4 Oil DIC M27 (FWD=0.13mm), (UV)VIS-IR
Plan-Apochromat 63x/1.4 Oil DIC M27 (FWD=0.19mm)
Plan-Apochromat 63x/1.46 Oil Corr M27 TIRF (FWD=0.10mm)

Filters:

Filter set FLEX min is equipped with dual and triple emission bands and allows for fast sequential two channel acquisition by fast switching of the laser lines.
MBS (major beam splitter) 405/488/561/641 and EF (emission filter) LBF 405/488/561/641
MBS 405/488/561/641 and EF BP 420-480 / BP 495-525 / LP 650

Price list

Laboratory reservation (per hour)

	External	UL staff	FE staff
Basic equipment	52,74 €	—	—
Maintenance	4,08 €	4,08 €	4,08 €
Amortization	5,51 €	5,51 €	5,51 €
Overheads	18,70 €	12,47 €	—
Total	81,03 €	22,06 €	9,59 €

Equipment rental (per hour)

Equipment	Rate
ZEISS ELYRA 7	296,59 €/h
Leica Thunder	220,65 €/h
Attune NxT	68,50 €/h
Tecan Infinite	22,91 €/h
Electrocell B10	75,00 €/h
Gemini X2	52,00 €/h
Vitae	30,40 €/h

Price list (PDF, EN)Price list (PDF, SL)ARRS equipment list (2025)

Collaborating Groups

Chair of Inorganic ChemistryFaculty of Chemistry and Chemical Technology, UL Laboratory of Clinical BiophysicsFaculty of Medicine, UL Chair of Biochemistry and Food ChemistryBiotechnical Faculty, UL Chair of Pharmaceutical TechnologyFaculty of Pharmacy, UL Laboratory of BiophysicsFaculty of Electrical Engineering, UL Group for Nano and Biotechnological ApplicationsFaculty of Electrical Engineering, UL Laboratory of Microsensor Structures and ElectronicsFaculty of Electrical Engineering, UL Laboratory of Imaging TechnologiesFaculty of Electrical Engineering, UL Laboratory of BiocyberneticsFaculty of Electrical Engineering, UL Research GroupUniversity of Primorska, Faculty of Health Sciences Jožef Stefan Institute Institute of Oncology Ljubljana National Institute of Biology Blood Transfusion Centre of Slovenia Centre of Excellence for Biosensors, Instrumentation and Process Control IskraMedical C3M — Centre for Computational Continuum MechanicsEducell — Cell Therapy Service(defunct)

Contact

Head of ICprof. dr. Tadej Kotnik+386 1 4768 768

Research assistantDuša Hodžić+386 1 4768 269

General inquiries:

Reservation

Reserve laboratories and equipment through the LBK instrument & room reservation system.

Reserve equipment