Matrix cell culture device and control method thereof

Abstract

The present invention discloses a stromal cell culture apparatus and a control method thereof, and belongs to the technical field of cell culture apparatuses, the stromal cell culture apparatus comprises: an incubator main cavity, the interior of which maintains a constant temperature, high humidity and a positive pressure state relative to an external environment; the micro transfer cabin is arranged on the front wall of the incubator main cavity, forms an independent and sealable transition cavity, is selectively communicated with the incubator main cavity through an openable and closable gate valve on the inner side of the micro transfer cabin, and is separated from the external environment through a sealable outer door on the outer side of the micro transfer cabin; a drawer type tray for bearing a culture dish is arranged in the micro transfer cabin; during operation, a culture dish is placed on the tray / platform, the outer door is closed, and the micro-transfer cabin is purified; and then the gate valve is opened, the drawer type tray is pushed into the main cavity of the incubator, and safe transfer of the culture dishes is completed. According to the stromal cell culture device, the in-out operation of the culture dish is completed on the premise that the main cavity door does not need to be manually opened, and the pollution risk and environmental disturbance are remarkably reduced.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to the field of cell culture device technology in the field of automated biological experimental equipment, and specifically to a matrix cell culture device and its control method. Background Technology

[0002] During cell culture, the main chamber must be maintained at a constant temperature (e.g., 37°C), high humidity (>95%RH), strict cleanliness, and a positive pressure environment relative to the outside to prevent backflow of external air. Directly opening the main chamber door to insert or remove culture dishes will disrupt the temperature and humidity balance, introducing the risk of external microbial contamination and disrupting the positive pressure state. Opening the door will also cause a sudden drop in temperature and humidity due to the mixing of internal and external air, potentially leading to condensation or evaporation of the culture medium.

[0003] Frequent opening and closing of the incubator door can cause drastic fluctuations in temperature and humidity inside the chamber, and introduce the risk of external microbial contamination. Traditional manual operation methods suffer from low efficiency, poor consistency, and a high probability of contamination. Although some existing automated systems use robotic arms to transfer culture dishes, they lack the ability to isolate the environment along the transfer path and dynamically sterilize them, thus failing to truly achieve the goal of aseptic transfer without disturbing the environment when the door is opened.

[0004] Therefore, there is an urgent need for a fully automated culture dish transfer system that integrates automated transfer, environmental isolation, dynamic sterilization and pressure balance control to solve the problems of environmental disturbance and cross-contamination caused by human intervention in existing technologies. Summary of the Invention

[0005] In order to overcome the shortcomings of the prior art, one of the objectives of the present invention is to provide a matrix cell culture device that can complete the entry and exit of culture dishes without the need for manual opening of the main cavity door, thereby significantly reducing the risk of contamination and environmental disturbance.

[0006] The second objective of this invention is to provide a control method for a matrix cell culture device that enables intelligent handling of culture dishes.

[0007] One of the objectives of this invention is achieved through the following technical solution: A stromal cell culture device, comprising: The main chamber of the incubator maintains a constant temperature, high humidity, and positive pressure relative to the external environment. A microtransfer chamber, located on the front wall of the main chamber of the incubator, forms an independent, sealable transition chamber. The microtransfer chamber is selectively connected to the main chamber of the incubator via an openable / closeable valve on its inner side and isolated from the external environment by a sealable outer door on its outer side. This facilitates the transition of the culture dish between the external environment and the main chamber of the incubator. Inside the microtransfer chamber is a drawer-type tray or a sliding rail support platform for carrying the culture dish. During operation, the culture dish is placed on this tray / platform, the outer door is closed, and the microtransfer chamber is purified. Then, the valve is opened, and the drawer-type tray or the sliding rail support platform is pushed entirely into the main chamber of the incubator, completing the safe transfer of the culture dish. The propulsion mechanism includes a motor-driven lead screw assembly for pushing the drawer-type tray or the slide rail support platform into or out of the main cavity; A robotic arm system is installed on the top or side wall of the main cavity of the incubator. The robotic arm system is a three-degree-of-freedom or higher Cartesian coordinate robotic arm or a SCARA robotic arm, with an arm structure that can move along the X, Y, and Z directions. Its end is connected to a pneumatic gripper-type end effector for holding the culture dish. When the drawer-type tray or the slide rail support platform is fully inside the main cavity of the incubator, the pneumatic gripper end effector picks up the stacked culture dishes from the support partition inside the main cavity of the incubator and places them in the drawer-type tray or the slide rail support platform, or places the culture dishes in the drawer-type tray or the slide rail support platform back into the main cavity of the incubator. An environmental control module, including a vacuum pump, is connected to the bottom air extraction port of the micro-transmission chamber via a first solenoid valve and a first pipeline. The gas refill path after sterilization and filtration includes a compressed gas source, a particulate filter, a sterilization filter (0.22μm), and a second solenoid valve, which is connected to the top air inlet of the micro-transfer chamber through a second pipeline; The sterilization unit is an ultraviolet lamp or a hydrogen peroxide spray generator installed on the inner wall of the micro-transfer chamber. A pressure sensor is installed inside the micro-transmission chamber to monitor the pressure inside the chamber; The control unit, electrically connected to the vacuum pump, solenoid valve, sterilization unit, and pressure sensor, is used to perform a cycle of "vacuuming negative pressure → refilling with filtered gas → sterilization" inside the micro-transfer chamber after the outer door is closed before the slide valve opens; it is configured to perform the following operations: Open the first solenoid valve and start the vacuum pump to evacuate the micro-transmission chamber to a negative pressure of -30kPa to -50kPa. Close the first solenoid valve, open the second solenoid valve, and refill the chamber with sterilized and filtered clean air or nitrogen to atmospheric pressure. Start the sterilization unit and perform ultraviolet irradiation for ≥15 minutes or spray atomized hydrogen peroxide and maintain a concentration of ≥50ppm for 10 minutes; Repeat steps 1-3 above once or more to form a purification cycle; The central control system is electrically connected to and coordinates the actions of the robotic arm system, the propulsion mechanism, the insert valve, the outer door, and the environmental control module to achieve fully automated aseptic transfer during the petri dish handling process.

[0008] Furthermore, the sterilization unit is an ultraviolet lamp or a vaporized hydrogen peroxide (VHP) generator, with the ultraviolet lamp installed on the inner wall of the micro-transfer chamber, or the VHP generator connected to the inside of the micro-transfer chamber via a pipe.

[0009] Furthermore, the slide valve is controlled by a stepper motor or an electromagnetic drive device, and is only opened when the drawer-type tray or the slide rail support platform moves in or out, and the opening condition is that the pressure difference between the inside pressure of the micro-transmission chamber and the pressure of the main cavity is less than -50Pa.

[0010] Furthermore, the end effector has a switchable dual-mode structure, including: Vacuum suction cups are used to adhere to the bottom of petri dishes; An electric gripper is used to hold the edge of the culture dish; the robotic arm system is equipped with a force sensor to monitor the gripping force in real time and prevent damage to the culture dish.

[0011] Furthermore, the micro-transfer chamber is equipped with temperature and humidity sensors and pressure sensors. The central control system dynamically determines whether the conditions for opening the gate valve are met based on sensor feedback and records the environmental parameter change curves for each operation.

[0012] Furthermore, the central control system is equipped with a graphical user interface, which allows users to customize the robotic arm's movement path, set sterilization parameters, view operation logs, and communicate with the Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS) via a network interface.

[0013] Furthermore, the outer door of the micro-transfer chamber is an electric door, which is controlled by the central control system to open and close; when the outer door is closed and the seal is confirmed, the environmental control module starts the sterilization cycle.

[0014] Furthermore, the main cavity of the incubator is provided with multiple vertically distributed support partitions, and a storage layer area for placing culture dishes is formed between adjacent support partitions; The support partition has multiple ventilation holes to allow gas to circulate between the storage layers and maintain a uniform temperature and humidity distribution within the main chamber of the incubator.

[0015] Furthermore, the slide gate valve is a 2mm thick stainless steel plate. A plastic plate is glued to the front wall of the incubator main cavity at the periphery of the entrance of the drawer-type tray or the slide rail support platform. The plastic plate has a slot from the top edge to the bottom edge that matches the size of the slide gate valve. The bottom edge of the slide gate valve has a notch that matches the slide rail. A groove is milled in the notch, and an inflatable hollow silicone O-ring is placed in the groove. When the slide gate valve is closed, the hollow silicone O-ring is squeezed to seal the slide rail.

[0016] The second objective of this invention is achieved by the following technical solution: A method for controlling a stromal cell culture device includes the following steps: The retrieval process includes the following steps: T1. The robotic arm moves to grab the culture dish in the main cavity of the incubator, and after grabbing, moves it above the drawer-type tray or the slide rail support platform and slowly lowers it. T2. Open the slide valve and use the push mechanism to pull the drawer-type tray or the slide rail support platform out of the main cavity of the incubator to the micro-transfer chamber. T3. Close the gate valve; T4. Open the outer door and manually remove the petri dish from the drawer-type tray or the slide rail support platform; T5. After completion, close the outer door, and optionally start the sterilization of the micro-transfer chamber. The placement process includes the following steps: S1. Open the outer door and the robotic arm places the external culture dish into the drawer-type tray or the slide rail support platform inside the microtransfer chamber; S2. Close the outer door and start the environmental control module to perform a cycle of negative pressure extraction → refilling → sterilization. S3. Open the slide valve and push the drawer-type tray or the slide rail support platform into the main cavity of the incubator through the push mechanism; S4. Close the slide valve to complete the insertion; S5. The robotic arm moves above the drawer-type tray or the slide rail support platform, grasps the culture dish therein, and moves it to its placement position in the main cavity of the incubator. Compared with the prior art, the beneficial effects of the present invention are: (1) The matrix cell culture device provided by the present invention is equipped with a micro-transfer chamber inner wall and a plate valve. The outer door is closed, and the environmental control module is activated to perform a "negative pressure extraction → refilling → sterilization" cycle, which completely blocks external pollutants from entering the main chamber, truly enabling aseptic handling of culture dishes. The main chamber door of the incubator is always closed to avoid temperature and humidity fluctuations. Loss; fully automated operation, reducing manual intervention, improving repeatability and efficiency, suitable for high-throughput experiments. Detailed Implementation

[0017] The present invention will now be further described in conjunction with specific embodiments. It should be noted that, without conflict, the embodiments or technical features described below can be arbitrarily combined to form new embodiments.

[0018] Example This embodiment provides a stromal cell culture device, including: The main chamber of the incubator maintains a constant temperature, high humidity, and positive pressure relative to the external environment. The microtransfer chamber, located on the front wall of the incubator's main chamber, forms an independent, sealable transition chamber. It selectively connects to the main chamber via an openable / closeable valve on its inner side and is isolated from the external environment by a sealable outer door. This facilitates the transition of culture dishes between the external environment and the main chamber. Inside the microtransfer chamber is a drawer-type tray or sliding platform for holding the culture dishes. During operation, the culture dishes are placed on this tray / platform, the outer door is closed, and the microtransfer chamber is purified (e.g., UV sterilization, gas replacement). Then, the valve is opened, and the drawer-type tray or sliding platform is pushed entirely into the main chamber, completing the safe transfer of the culture dishes. Essentially, the microtransfer chamber is a small, sealable transition chamber, physically located outside the main chamber but structurally integrated with it. Each time the door is opened, only a small amount of gas inside the microtransfer chamber exchanges with the external environment, maintaining the temperature and humidity of the main chamber. The concentration was almost unaffected, and the remaining cells continued to be in a constant comfort zone; The propulsion mechanism, including a motor-driven lead screw assembly, is used to push or pull the drawer-type tray or slide rail support platform into or out of the main cavity; The advantages of using a slide gate valve and a propulsion mechanism are as follows: After the slide valve is opened, the culture dish is not simply "passed in," but rather the entire drawer-type tray or platform carrying the dish is pushed into the main chamber. This reduces the risk of contamination from operator hands entering the chamber; ensures a fast and stable transfer process; and prevents the culture dish from tipping over or colliding during transfer. The drawer-type tray can be pulled out for external placement and then pushed back into the chamber. The sliding platform is a flat plate with rails for easy pushing and pulling.

[0019] The robotic arm system is located on the top or side wall of the main cavity of the incubator. The robotic arm system is a three-degree-of-freedom or higher Cartesian coordinate robotic arm or a SCARA robotic arm. It has an arm structure that can move along the X, Y, and Z directions, and its end is connected to a pneumatic gripper-type end effector for holding the culture dish. Once the drawer-type tray or slide rail support platform is fully inside the main cavity of the incubator, the pneumatic gripper end effector picks up the stacked culture dishes from the support partition inside the main cavity of the incubator and places them in the drawer-type tray or slide rail support platform, or places the culture dishes in the drawer-type tray or slide rail support platform back into the main cavity of the incubator. The environmental control module, including a vacuum pump, is connected to the bottom air extraction port of the micro-transfer chamber via a first solenoid valve and a first pipeline. The gas refill path after sterilization and filtration includes a compressed gas source, a particulate filter, a sterilization filter (0.22μm), and a second solenoid valve, which is connected to the top air inlet of the micro-transfer chamber through a second pipeline; The sterilization unit is an ultraviolet lamp or a hydrogen peroxide spray generator installed on the inner wall of the micro-transfer chamber. A pressure sensor, installed inside the micro-transmission chamber, is used to monitor the pressure inside the chamber; The control unit, electrically connected to the vacuum pump, solenoid valve, sterilization unit, and pressure sensor, is used to perform a cycle of "vacuuming negative pressure → refilling with filtered gas → sterilization" inside the micro-transfer chamber after the outer door is closed and the slide gate valve is opened; it is configured to perform the following operations: Open the first solenoid valve and start the vacuum pump to evacuate the micro-transfer chamber to a negative pressure of -30kPa to -50kPa. Close the first solenoid valve, open the second solenoid valve, and refill the chamber with sterilized and filtered clean air or nitrogen to atmospheric pressure. Start the sterilization unit and perform ultraviolet irradiation for ≥15 minutes or spray atomized hydrogen peroxide and maintain a concentration of ≥50ppm for 10 minutes; Repeat steps 1-3 above once or multiple times to form a purification cycle; the effects achieved by this method are as follows: When the operator opens the outer door and places the petri dish inside, outside air, hand particles, and droplets may enter the micro-transfer chamber. When the outer door is closed, the contaminants are "sealed" inside the chamber. At this point, the air inside the chamber is contaminated. Even if the valve is opened later and the main chamber airflow is blown in, it can only "dilute" the contaminants and cannot completely remove them. Even more seriously, the surface of the petri dish may already be contaminated with microorganisms, which the positive pressure airflow cannot inactivate at all! 1. Actively remove air pollutants from the cabin (vacuuming + refilling with filtered air) Vacuuming: Actively extracting contaminated air, rather than relying on dilution; Refill filtered air: Inject fresh, sterile air or nitrogen; Results: Achieves a high replacement rate (>99%), far superior to positive pressure dilution.

[0020] Analogy: Operating rooms cannot be kept clean simply by "positive pressure"; the air must first be "purified" using high-efficiency filtered air supply.

[0021] 2. Inactivation of surface microorganisms (sterilization unit) Ultraviolet irradiation or hydrogen peroxide spray: can kill microorganisms attached to the walls, trays, aluminum boxes, and petri dishes; Positive pressure airflow has no effect on this.

[0022] Experimental data show that airflow dilution alone reduces surface colony count by less than 50%; while UV+ It can kill more than 99.99% of the population.

[0023] 3. Removes volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and odors. Petri dishes may contain residual disinfectants, organic solvents, etc. Vacuuming can effectively remove these impurities, preventing them from entering the main cavity and affecting cell growth.

[0024] The central control system is electrically connected to and coordinates the actions of the robotic arm system, propulsion mechanism, slide valve, outer door, and environmental control module to achieve fully automated aseptic transfer during the petri dish handling process.

[0025] In this embodiment, the sterilization unit is an ultraviolet lamp or a vaporized hydrogen peroxide (VHP) generator. The ultraviolet lamp is installed on the inner wall of the micro-transfer chamber, or the VHP generator is connected to the inside of the micro-transfer chamber through a pipe.

[0026] In this embodiment, the slide gate valve is controlled by a stepper motor or electromagnetic drive device, and opens only when the drawer-type tray or slide rail support platform moves in or out, provided that the pressure difference between the micro-transfer chamber and the main chamber is less than -50 Pa. This design maintains a positive pressure state in the main chamber of the incubator.

[0027] In this embodiment, the end effector is a switchable dual-mode structure, including: Vacuum suction cups are used to adhere to the bottom of petri dishes; The electric gripper is used to hold the edge of the culture dish; the robotic arm system is equipped with a force sensor to monitor the gripping force in real time and prevent damage to the culture dish.

[0028] In this embodiment, the micro-transfer chamber is equipped with temperature and humidity sensors and pressure sensors. The central control system dynamically determines whether the opening conditions of the gate valve are met based on the sensor feedback, and records the environmental parameter change curves for each operation.

[0029] In this embodiment, the central control system is equipped with a graphical user interface, which allows users to customize the movement path of the robotic arm, set sterilization parameters, view operation logs, and communicate with the Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS) via a network interface.

[0030] The outer door of the micro-transfer chamber is an electric door, which is controlled by the central control system to open and close. Once the outer door is closed and the seal is confirmed, the environmental control module starts the sterilization cycle.

[0031] In this embodiment, the main cavity of the incubator is provided with multiple vertically distributed support partitions, and a storage layer area for placing culture dishes is formed between adjacent support partitions. Multiple vents are provided on the support partition to allow for gas circulation between the storage layers, maintaining a uniform temperature and humidity distribution within the incubator's main chamber. This design fully utilizes the space within the incubator's main chamber, allowing for layered placement of culture dishes. The multiple vents on the support partition ensure airflow between the multiple storage layers, maintaining consistent environmental conditions. Each layer can be equipped with a drawer-type tray or a sliding rail support platform, with program-controlled layered placement and removal of culture dishes.

[0032] In this embodiment, the slide gate valve is a 2mm thick stainless steel plate. A plastic plate, glued to the front wall of the incubator's main chamber, is located around the entrance of the drawer-type tray or slide rail platform into the main chamber. The plastic plate has slots from its top edge to its bottom edge that match the size of the slide gate valve. The bottom edge of the slide gate valve has a notch that matches the slide rail. A groove is milled into the notch, and an inflatable hollow silicone O-ring is placed in the groove. When the slide gate valve is closed, it compresses the hollow silicone O-ring, sealing it against the slide rail. This design, because the front wall of the incubator's main chamber is made of glass, prevents stress and damage to the front wall during the opening and closing of the slide gate valve. It also ensures a seal between the slide gate valve and the notch, maintaining a tight seal between the main chamber and the microtransfer chamber.

[0033] The gate valve is in the slot, which ensures that the gate can slide up and down, while limiting its left and right swaying.

[0034] I. System Composition and Specifications Details 1. Main chamber of the incubator The interior is maintained at a constant temperature (37±0.2°C), high humidity (>95%RH), and positive pressure (+10Pa relative to the micro-transfer chamber). The cavity material is a stainless steel inner liner with an electrolytic polishing treatment, which provides corrosion resistance and easy cleaning. Equipped with a HEPA H14 grade air filtration system, it continuously circulates and purifies the internal air.

[0035] 2. Micro-Transfer Chamber It is fixedly installed on the front wall of the incubator and sealed and isolated from the main cavity of the incubator through a slide valve; Dimensions: 200mm (L) × 120mm (W) × 40mm (H), volume approximately 1L; Structural components: Exterior door: Can be opened / closed manually or electrically, equipped with magnetic sealing strip and position sensor; Inner door (slide valve): A metal slide valve driven by a stepper motor, which is normally closed and only briefly opens when the aluminum box is moved in or out; Slide rail assembly: Built-in dual guide rail structure to support the smooth entry and exit of the aluminum box; Sterilization components: UV LED light strips (wavelength 254nm) embedded in the chamber wall or connected to VHP nozzles for surface sterilization of the interior of the micro-chamber; Pressure sensor: Monitors changes in air pressure inside the micro-cabin; Temperature and humidity sensor: Provides real-time feedback on the environmental parameters of the micro-cabin.

[0036] 3. The drawer-type tray or slide rail support platform can be a drawer-type aluminum box. Transfer Tray (drawer-type aluminum box) Material: Anodized aluminum alloy, lightweight, with uniform thermal conductivity, and resistant to high-temperature sterilization; Size: Matches the inlet to the main chamber, allowing for easy insertion from the microtransfer chamber into the main chamber of the incubator; bottom is equipped with rollers or low-friction sliders. Load capacity: Can accommodate up to 4 standard Φ90mm petri dishes, arranged in designated areas; The surface is equipped with an RFID tag or QR code for identifying the information of the culture dish it contains.

[0037] 4. Robotic arm system Type: Small three-DOF (3-DOF) SCARA structure robotic arm (such as uArmSwiftPro or custom models); Working range: horizontal 200mm, vertical 150mm, repeatability ±0.1mm; Load capacity: ≥500g, meeting the needs of stacking and handling multi-layer petri dishes; Installation method: It is set on the top or side wall of the main cavity of the incubator. The robotic arm system is a three-degree-of-freedom or higher rectangular coordinate robotic arm or a SCARA robotic arm. It has an arm structure that can move along the X, Y and Z directions, and its end is connected to a pneumatic gripper-type end effector for holding the culture dish. Equipped with a dual-mode end effector: Vacuum suction cup module: 40mm diameter silicone suction cup, connected to a miniature vacuum pump, used to adsorb the bottom of the culture dish; Electric gripper module: switchable, with a gripping force of 5–10N, gripping the edge of the petri dish to avoid contact with the sample surface; Equip with a torque sensor to prevent damage to the culture dish from excessive clamping.

[0038] 5. Composition of the propulsion mechanism: Miniature DC motor (12V / 10W) with encoder feedback; Ball screw: 8mm diameter, 2mm pitch, 100mm stroke; Reduction gear set: Reduction ratio 1:10, ensuring smooth thrust; The push rod has a flexible buffer head at the front end to prevent it from impacting the aluminum box; Installed at the bottom of the micro-cabin, it pushes the aluminum box along the slide rail into the main cavity; When returning, the motor reverses and pulls the aluminum box back to its initial position.

[0039] 6. Environmental Control Module Vacuum pump: pumping speed 1L / min, connected to the micro chamber, used to pump to negative pressure (-50kPa). Gas recharge path: Connected to compressed air or mixed gas source (e.g., containing 5%) via a 0.22μm sterilization filter. (air), used to recharge to normal or positive pressure; Sterilization unit: Option A: Built-in ultraviolet lamp, irradiation time ≥ 5 min, dose ≥ 100 μW·s / cm²; Option B: Connect to a VHP generator, inject vaporized hydrogen peroxide at a concentration ≥1 mg / L, for a reaction time of 3–5 min, which then decomposes into water and oxygen; All gas pipelines are made of PTFE material to prevent adsorption and contamination.

[0040] 7. Control System Core controller: Industrial-grade PLC (such as Siemens S7-1200) or embedded ARM controller; Input signal: Current position of the robotic arm (obtained via serial communication); External door / slide valve open / closed status (limit switch); Pressure, temperature, and humidity sensor data; Operating status of vacuum pump, motor, and sterilization device; Output control: Robotic arm movement commands (sent via UART or TCP / IP protocol); Motor start / stop and forward / reverse rotation; Vacuum pump, solenoid valve, UV lamp / VHP generator switch; Alarm indicator lights and audible / visual prompts; User interface: 7-inch touchscreen, supports graphical programming path, setting sterilization parameters, and viewing history; Supports remote monitoring: Connects to the laboratory management system via Wi-Fi or Ethernet.

[0041] II. Operation Flow (Fully Automatic Control Logic) 1. Petri dish placement procedure 2. Petri dish removal procedure III. Central Control System Control Flow The central control system is integrated inside the incubator shell to achieve fully automated aseptic transfer of petri dishes during the loading and unloading process; The central control system includes: The main controller uses an embedded microprocessor (such as ARM Cortex-M7 or STM32 series) and is equipped with non-volatile memory to store the control program; The input interface module connects to the following sensors and status feedback devices via digital input channels: Micro-transfer chamber external door closure sensor (magnetic switch) Gate valve open / closed position sensor (Hall sensor) Micro-transmission chamber pressure sensor Main cavity positive pressure status monitoring sensor Robotic arm zeroing sensor The output interface module connects to the following actuators via relay or transistor drive circuits: The motion controller of the robotic arm system (communication via RS485 or CAN bus). Motor driver for the propulsion mechanism (used in the lead screw assembly) Electromagnetic drive device for slide gate valve External door electromagnetic lock The environmental control module includes a vacuum pump, first / second solenoid valves, and a sterilization unit (UV lamp or...). generator) Human-computer interaction interface (optional): Touch screen or button panel, used to start the process or display status; Communication module (optional): Supports ModbusTCP or Ethernet for remote monitoring; The central control system runs a preset control program and executes the following fully automatic operation procedures: Step S1: Initial State Detection Check if the outer door is closed → If not closed, alarm and terminate. Check if the slide gate valve is closed → If not closed, alarm and terminate. Step S2: Start the micro-transfer chamber purification cycle The environmental control module is activated to execute the cycle of "extracting negative pressure → refilling filtered gas → sterilization"; Read pressure sensor data in real time to confirm that the set negative pressure (-30 to -50 kPa) has been reached and sterilization is complete; Step S3: Open the slide gate valve Judgment criteria: purification completed + main chamber positive pressure normal + robotic arm in standby position; The output command activates the electromagnetic drive device of the slide gate valve. Step S4: Push the tray into the main cavity Control the propulsion mechanism motor to slide the drawer-type tray or slide rail support platform into the main cavity along the guide rail; Once in position, confirmation is received from the position sensor; Step S5: The robotic arm performs the pick-and-place operation. Send a command to the robotic arm system to pick up or place the dish; The robotic arm can pick up a culture dish from the main chamber culture rack and place it in an aluminum box on a tray, or vice versa. Once completed, return to the original position and send a completion signal; Step S6: Recycling and Shutting Down The control propulsion mechanism pulls the tray back into the micro-transfer compartment; Close the slide gate valve; Release the electromagnetic lock on the outer door to allow the outer door to be opened and the sample to be retrieved; Throughout the process, the central control system monitors the status of each component in real time. If any link is abnormal (such as timeout or sensor unresponsiveness), an alarm is triggered and the system enters a safe shutdown mode.

[0042] IV. Safety and Redundancy Design Emergency stop button: Located on the side of the robotic arm base and incubator, pressing it will immediately cut off all power supply; Dual-sensor verification mechanism: Critical actions (such as opening the slide valve) must simultaneously meet two conditions: "outer door closed" and "pressure balance"; Fault self-diagnosis: The system periodically detects abnormalities such as motor stall, vacuum leakage, and communication interruption, and automatically alarms and shuts down the machine; Data recording and traceability: Record the time, operation type, temperature and humidity curve, sterilization parameters, and operator ID (optional) for each operation; supports exporting CSV logs. Anti-misoperation design: The slide valve must not be opened before the sterilization cycle is completed; the robotic arm must not enter the micro-chamber before the aluminum box is confirmed to be in place.

[0043] The above embodiments are merely preferred embodiments of the present invention and should not be construed as limiting the scope of protection of the present invention. Any non-substantial changes and substitutions made by those skilled in the art based on the present invention shall fall within the scope of protection claimed by the present invention.

Claims

1. A matrix cell culture device, characterized in that, include: The main chamber of the incubator maintains a constant temperature, high humidity, and positive pressure relative to the external environment. A microtransfer chamber, located on the front wall of the main chamber of the incubator, forms an independent, sealable transition chamber. The microtransfer chamber is selectively connected to the main chamber of the incubator via an openable / closeable valve on its inner side and isolated from the external environment by a sealable outer door. This facilitates the transition of the culture dish between the external environment and the main chamber of the incubator. Inside the microtransfer chamber is a drawer-type tray or a sliding rail support platform for carrying the culture dish. During operation, the culture dish is placed on the drawer-type tray or sliding rail support platform, the outer door is closed, and the microtransfer chamber is purified. Then, the valve is opened, and the drawer-type tray or sliding rail support platform is pushed entirely into the main chamber of the incubator, completing the safe transfer of the culture dish. The propulsion mechanism includes a motor-driven lead screw assembly for pushing the drawer-type tray or the slide rail support platform into or out of the main cavity; The robotic arm system is located on the top or side wall of the main cavity of the incubator. The robotic arm system is a three-degree-of-freedom or higher Cartesian coordinate robotic arm or a SCARA robotic arm. It has an arm structure that can move along the X, Y, and Z directions, and its end is connected to a pneumatic gripper-type end effector for holding the culture dish. When the drawer-type tray or the slide rail support platform is fully inside the main cavity of the incubator, the pneumatic gripper end effector picks up the stacked culture dishes from the support partition inside the main cavity of the incubator and places them in the drawer-type tray or the slide rail support platform, or places the culture dishes in the drawer-type tray or the slide rail support platform back into the main cavity of the incubator. An environmental control module, including a vacuum pump, is connected to the bottom air extraction port of the micro-transmission chamber via a first solenoid valve and a first pipeline. The gas recharge passage after sterilization and filtration includes a compressed gas source, a particulate filter, a sterilization filter and a second solenoid valve, which is connected to the top air inlet of the micro-transfer chamber through a second pipeline. The sterilization unit is an ultraviolet lamp or a hydrogen peroxide spray generator installed on the inner wall of the micro-transfer chamber. A pressure sensor is installed inside the micro-transmission chamber to monitor the pressure inside the chamber; The control unit, electrically connected to the vacuum pump, solenoid valve, sterilization unit, and pressure sensor, is used to perform a cycle of "vacuuming negative pressure → refilling with filtered gas → sterilization" inside the micro-transfer chamber after the outer door is closed before the slide valve opens; it is configured to perform the following operations: Open the first solenoid valve and start the vacuum pump to evacuate the micro-transmission chamber to a negative pressure of -30kPa to -50kPa. Close the first solenoid valve, open the second solenoid valve, and refill the chamber with sterilized and filtered clean air or nitrogen to atmospheric pressure. Start the sterilization unit and perform ultraviolet irradiation for ≥15 minutes or spray atomized hydrogen peroxide and maintain a concentration of ≥50ppm for 10 minutes; Repeat steps 1-3 above once or more to form a purification cycle; The central control system is electrically connected to and coordinates the actions of the robotic arm system, the propulsion mechanism, the insert valve, the outer door, and the environmental control module to achieve fully automated aseptic transfer during the petri dish handling process.

2. The matrix cell culture device as described in claim 1, characterized in that, The sterilization unit is an ultraviolet lamp or a vaporized hydrogen peroxide generator. The ultraviolet lamp is installed on the inner wall of the micro-transfer chamber, or the vaporized hydrogen peroxide generator is connected to the inside of the micro-transfer chamber through a pipeline.

3. The matrix cell culture device as described in claim 1, characterized in that, The slide valve is controlled by a stepper motor or an electromagnetic drive device and is opened only when the drawer-type tray or the slide rail support platform moves in or out, and the opening condition is that the pressure difference between the inside pressure of the micro-transmission chamber and the pressure of the main cavity is less than -50Pa.

4. The matrix cell culture device as described in claim 1, characterized in that, The pneumatic gripper-type end effector has a switchable dual-mode structure, including: Vacuum suction cups are used to adhere to the bottom of petri dishes; Electric grippers are used to hold the edges of petri dishes; The robotic arm is used for movement, and the robotic arm system is equipped with force sensors to monitor the grasping force in real time and prevent damage to the culture dish.

5. The matrix cell culture device as described in claim 1, characterized in that, The micro-transfer chamber is equipped with temperature and humidity sensors and pressure sensors. The central control system dynamically determines whether the opening conditions of the gate valve are met based on sensor feedback, and records the environmental parameter change curves for each operation.

6. The stromal cell culture device as described in claim 5, characterized in that, The central control system is equipped with a graphical user interface, which allows users to customize the robotic arm's movement path, set sterilization parameters, and view operation logs. It can also communicate with the laboratory information management system via a network interface.

7. The stromal cell culture device as described in claim 1, characterized in that, The outer door of the micro-transfer chamber is an electric door, which is controlled by the central control system to open and close. After the outer door is closed and the seal is confirmed, the environmental control module starts the sterilization cycle.

8. The matrix cell culture device as described in claim 1, characterized in that, The main cavity of the incubator is provided with multiple vertically distributed support partitions, and a storage layer area for placing petri dishes is formed between adjacent support partitions. The support partition has multiple ventilation holes to allow gas to circulate between the storage layers and maintain a uniform temperature and humidity distribution within the main chamber of the incubator.

9. The matrix cell culture device as described in claim 1, characterized in that, The slide valve is a 2mm thick stainless steel plate. A plastic plate is glued to the front wall of the incubator main cavity at the periphery of the entrance of the drawer-type tray or the slide rail support platform. The plastic plate has a slot from the top edge to the bottom edge that matches the size of the slide valve. The bottom edge of the slide valve has a notch that matches the slide rail. A groove is milled in the notch, and an inflatable hollow silicone O-ring is placed in the groove. When the slide valve is closed, the hollow silicone O-ring is squeezed to seal the slide rail.

10. The control method of the stromal cell culture device according to claim 1, characterized in that, Includes the following steps: The retrieval process includes the following steps: T1. The robotic arm moves to grab the culture dish in the main cavity of the incubator, and after grabbing, moves it above the drawer-type tray or the slide rail support platform and slowly lowers it. T2. Open the slide valve and use the push mechanism to pull the drawer-type tray or the slide rail support platform out of the main cavity of the incubator to the micro-transfer chamber. T3. Close the gate valve; T4. Open the outer door and manually remove the petri dish from the drawer-type tray or the slide rail support platform; T5. After completion, close the outer door, and optionally start the sterilization of the micro-transfer chamber. The placement process includes the following steps: S1. Open the outer door and the robotic arm places the external culture dish into the drawer-type tray or the slide rail support platform inside the microtransfer chamber; S2. Close the outer door and start the environmental control module to perform a cycle of negative pressure extraction → refilling → sterilization. S3. Open the slide valve and push the drawer-type tray or the slide rail support platform into the main cavity of the incubator through the push mechanism; S4. Close the slide valve to complete the insertion; S5. The robotic arm moves above the drawer-type tray or the slide rail support platform, grabs the culture dish therein, and moves it to the placement position in the main cavity of the incubator.

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