UltraScan III Quickstart Information Guide

  1. Download the software. UltraScan III is available for free download in binary or source-code format for three major operating systems: Windows, Macintosh, and Linux.
  2. Install the software. The installation instructions vary for different platforms, please consult the operating system-specific instructions.
  3. Register the software. UltraScan development is funded by NIH and your registration helps us document usage of the software to NIH. Only operating system, and the number of active users for any given year are shared with the NIH. Registrations are free, and valid for one year. After that they have to be renewed (also free).
  4. Optional: Customize your UltraScan installation. You can configure font sizes, color schemes, file/data locations, computational resources (number of cores used for computations), and LIMS connectivity (see below).
  5. Optional: Connect to a LIMS server. UltraScan uses a database-hosted Laboratory Information Management System ("LIMS") to host the UltraScan Science Gateway to provide data hosting. LIMS servers are available through the free UltraScan Science Gateway in select countries, through the NSF-funded ACCESS resources, or through commercial UltraScan-in-a-Box installations.
  6. Import experimental data. You can import data from an Optima AUC using the UltraScan data acquisition system (R+D and GMP versions are available), from the Beckman provided tar.gz archive, or from legacy instruments like the Proteomelab XLA, XLI, or Aviv XLF, and the Cölfen Multi-wavelength Optical System.
  7. Edit experimental data. After import, one or more edit profiles need to be created for the experimental data. In this process, data limits and meniscus are defined, and any scans to be excluded from the analysis are selected.
  8. Analyze your data. Multiple analysis methods exist within UltraScan. Most can be performed on a modern laptop with a multi-core, 64-bit architecture and sufficient RAM. Some of them require supercomputers for advanced analysis features, higher resolution and high performance accelerated analysis.