Cell culture device
By introducing sensors and indicators into the cell culture device, the experimenter can monitor the pH change in the incubator without contact, solving the problems of inconvenience and contamination risks caused by frequent opening of the incubator in the prior art.
Patent Information
- Application Number
- CN202420926745.X
- Authority / Receiving Office
- CN · China
- Patent Type
- Utility models(China)
- Current Assignee / Owner
- Filing Date
- 2024-04-30
- Publication Date
- 2025-02-18
- Estimated Expiration
- 2034-04-30
AI Technical Summary
In existing cell culture technology, experimenters need to frequently open the incubator to observe the pH changes in the culture dish, which leads to inconvenient operation and easy introduction of contamination.
A cell culture device is designed, including an incubator, a sensor, an indicator and a controller. The sensor senses the color change of the Petri dish in the incubator and outputs corresponding instructions through the controller control indicator, allowing the experimenter to understand the pH in the incubator without contact.
This reduces the frequency of the experimenter opening the incubator, reduces the risk of contamination during cell culture, and allows the experimenter to monitor the pH of the culture dish without contact.
Smart Images
Figure CN222499171U_ABST
Abstract
Description
Technical Field
[0001] The present invention belongs to the technical field of cell culture, and in particular relates to a cell culture device. Background Art
[0002] Cell culture is usually carried out on a culture dish filled with culture medium in an incubator. Observing the changes in pH (Potential Of Hydrogen) in the culture dish is an important process in cell culture. It is an important basis for judging whether the cultured cells are healthy or potentially contaminated.
[0003] In the related art, the observation of pH changes is achieved with the help of pH indicators. After adding the pH indicator to the culture dish, observe the color change. If the pH is higher than 8.4, it will appear red, if the pH is 6.6 to 8.0, it will appear orange, and if the pH is lower than 6.6, it will appear yellow. Generally speaking, after the experimenter opens the incubator, if he finds that the culture dish is yellow, it means that the cells in the culture dish have produced more acidic substances due to metabolic activity or pollution, and it is necessary to replace the culture dish and culture medium with fresh ones or discard them.
[0004] However, since the experimenter needs to open the incubator and take out the culture dish every time he observes the pH change in the culture dish, it is inconvenient to operate and it is easy to cause additional contamination in the incubator. Utility Model Content
[0005] The disclosed embodiment provides a cell detection device, which can enable the experimenter to understand the color state and pH condition of each culture dish in the incubator without contact, reduce the frequency of opening the incubator for observation, and thus reduce the risk of contamination during cell culture. The technical solution is as follows:
[0006] The embodiment of the present disclosure provides a cell culture device, including an incubator, a sensor, an indicator and a controller. The incubator has a culture dish placement area. The sensor is located inside the incubator, and the sensing port of the sensor faces the culture dish placement area. The indicator is located outside the incubator. The controller is electrically connected to the sensor and the indicator respectively. The sensor is configured to send an indication signal to the controller when sensing the appearance of a set color in the culture dish placement area. The controller is configured to control the indicator to output an indication after receiving the indication signal.
[0007] In one implementation of the present disclosure, the incubator includes a housing and a plurality of partitions. The plurality of partitions are located inside the housing, and the plurality of partitions are arranged in sequence along a vertical direction perpendicular to a horizontal plane to form a plurality of compartments. Each compartment has the sensor and the culture dish placement area. In another implementation of the present disclosure, the number of the culture dish placement areas in each compartment is at least two, and each of the culture dish placement areas is located on the partition and arranged at intervals. The sensor corresponds to the culture dish placement area one by one, and the sensor is located on the partition or the inner wall of the housing.
[0008] In yet another implementation of the present disclosure, the indicator corresponds one-to-one to the culture dish placement area.
[0009] In another implementation of the present disclosure, the box body includes a box body and a box door. One side of the box body is an opening. The box door is pivotally connected to the box body so that the box door covers the opening of the box body.
[0010] In yet another implementation of the present disclosure, the indicator is connected to the box door.
[0011] In another implementation of the present disclosure, the cell culture device further comprises a fill light, which is located inside the compartments, and each compartment has the fill light, and the fill light is connected to the partition or the inner wall of the box.
[0012] In yet another implementation of the present disclosure, the fill light corresponds one-to-one to the culture dish placement area.
[0013] In another implementation of the present disclosure, the sensor is a color sensor. The indicator is any one of an indicator light, a voice announcer, and a display.
[0014] In another implementation of the present disclosure, the cell culture device further comprises a water receiving member. The water receiving member is located inside the culture box, and the orthographic projection of the culture dish placement area on the plane where the water receiving member is located is located inside the water receiving member.
[0015] The technical solution provided by the embodiments of the present disclosure has the following beneficial effects:
[0016] When culturing cells in a culture dish containing culture medium, first add the pH indicator to the culture dish, and then place the culture dish to be observed in the culture dish placement area in the incubator. Because the sensing port of the sensor is facing the culture dish placement area, the sensor can sense the culture medium in the culture dish, and its color changes due to changes in pH. Since the sensor is electrically connected to the controller, the sensor can send an indication signal to the controller based on the sensed color. Since the controller is also electrically connected to the indicator, the controller controls the indicator to output a corresponding indication after receiving the indication signal. Since the indicator is located outside the incubator, the experimenter can understand the color status of the culture dish inside the incubator without opening the incubator, thereby knowing the pH of the culture medium.
[0017] In other words, the cell culture device allows the experimenter to understand the pH conditions of the culture dishes in the incubator without contact, reducing the frequency of opening the incubator for observation, thereby reducing the risk of contamination during the cell culture process. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0018] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present disclosure, the drawings required for use in the description of the embodiments will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the drawings described below are only some embodiments of the present disclosure. For ordinary technicians in this field, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without paying any creative work.
[0019] Figure 1 is a schematic structural diagram of a cell culture device provided by an embodiment of the present disclosure;
[0020] Figure 2 It is a schematic diagram of the structure of a cell culture device provided in an embodiment of the present disclosure.
[0021] The symbols in the figure mean the following:
[0022] 10. Incubator;
[0023] 101, culture dish placement area; 102, box body; 1021, box body; 1022, box door; 1023, door handle; 1024, hinge; 103, partition;
[0024] 20. Sensor;
[0025] 30. Indicator;
[0026] 40. Controller;
[0027] 50. Compartment;
[0028] 60. Fill light;
[0029] 70. Water receiving parts;
[0030] 100. Petri dish;
[0031] 200. Culture medium. DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0032] In order to make the objectives, technical solutions and advantages of the present disclosure more clear, the embodiments of the present disclosure will be further described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.
[0033] The present disclosure provides a cell detection device. Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a cell culture device provided in an embodiment of the present disclosure, such as Figure 1 As shown, the cell detection device includes an incubator 10, a sensor 20, an indicator 30 and a controller 40. The incubator 10 has a culture dish placement area 101. The sensor 20 is located inside the incubator 10, and the sensing port of the sensor 20 faces the culture dish placement area 101. The indicator 30 is located outside the incubator 10. The controller 40 is electrically connected to the sensor 20 and the indicator 30 respectively. The sensor 20 is configured to sense the color of the culture dish placement area 101, and send an indication signal to the controller 40 according to the sensed color. The controller 40 is configured to control the indicator 30 to output an indication after receiving the indication signal.
[0034] When culturing cells in a culture dish 100 containing a culture medium 200, a pH indicator is first added to the culture dish 100, and then the culture dish 100 to be observed is placed in the culture dish placement area 101 in the incubator 10. Because the sensing port of the sensor 20 faces the culture dish placement area 101, the sensor 20 can sense the culture medium 200 in the culture dish 100, and the color change caused by the change in pH. Since the sensor 20 is electrically connected to the controller 40, the sensor 20 can send an indication signal to the controller 40 according to the sensed color. Since the controller 40 is also electrically connected to the indicator 30, the controller 40 controls the indicator 30 to output a corresponding indication after receiving the indication signal. Since the indicator 30 is located outside the incubator 10, the experimenter can understand the color state of the culture dish 100 inside the incubator 10 without opening the incubator 10, thereby knowing the pH of the culture medium 200.
[0035] That is to say, the cell culture device enables the experimenter to understand the pH condition of the culture dish 100 in the incubator 10 without contact, thereby reducing the frequency of opening the incubator 10 for observation, thereby reducing the risk of contamination during the cell culture process.
[0036] It is worth noting that in order to observe the changes in pH in the culture dish 100 containing the culture medium 200, the pH indicator added to the culture dish 100 is usually phenol red, which is an acid-base indicator that appears red when the pH is higher than 8.4, orange when the pH is between 6.6 and 8.0, and yellow when the pH is lower than 6.6.
[0037] Exemplarily, the sensor 20 is a color sensor. Optionally, the model of the color sensor is TCS34725. The sensor 20 can sense the color of the culture medium 200 in the culture dish 100, thereby sending a corresponding indication signal to the controller 40, so that the controller 40 controls the indicator 30 to output a corresponding indication.
[0038] Exemplarily, the indicator 30 is any one of an indicator light, a voice announcer, and a display.
[0039] In the above implementation, the indicator lights, voice announcer, and display can all output indications under the control of the controller 40 to prompt the experimenter of the color of the culture medium 200.
[0040] The following takes the indicator 30 as an indicator light as an example to further introduce the working process of the indicator 30.
[0041] Exemplarily, the indicator light is a LED (Light Emitting Diode) lamp, which can receive an RGB (Red Green Blue) signal transmitted from the controller 40 and change into lights of different colors according to different received RGB signals.
[0042] There are many ways in which the light of the indicator 30 changes, which are described below respectively.
[0043] The first is to use the yellow color presented when the pH of the culture medium 200 is lower than 6.6 as the set color. When the sensor 20 senses yellow, it sends an indication signal to the controller 40, and the controller 40 controls the indicator 30 to change the light. The light change can be a change in light color (for example, green to yellow), or a change between off and on. The light change indicates that the culture dish 100 in the incubator 10 has been contaminated, and the experimenter will discard the contaminated culture dish 100 or replace it with fresh culture medium 200 in time to prevent the contamination from spreading to other culture dishes 100 in the incubator 10.
[0044] The second method is to use red when the pH of the culture medium 200 is higher than 8.4, orange when the pH is between 6.6 and 8.0, and yellow when the pH is lower than 6.6 as the set colors. When the sensor 20 senses a color other than the above three colors (for example, green), the indicator 30 goes out. When the sensor 20 senses one of the above three colors, the light of the indicator 30 changes. The light change can be a change in the color of the light. For example, if the color in the culture dish 100 is red, the indicator 30 changes from green to red. In this way, the experimenter can know the condition of the culture medium 200 based on the color of the indicator 30.
[0045] Thirdly, the sensor 20 senses the color of the culture medium 200 in the culture dish 100 in real time, and sends an indication signal corresponding to the sensed color to the controller 40, so that the controller 40 controls the indicator 30 to output a corresponding indication, that is, to display a light of a corresponding color.
[0046] In order to simplify the detection process, the controller 40 can control the sensing frequency of the sensor 20, for example, sensing the color of the culture medium 200 once every 1 hour, or sensing the color of the culture medium 200 once every 3 hours. The sensing frequency of the sensor 20 can be adjusted according to actual needs, and the present disclosure does not limit this.
[0047] In other embodiments, the indicator 30 is a voice announcer, and the indicator 30 can receive an audio signal transmitted from the controller 40 and make a voice announcement according to the received audio signal.
[0048] Exemplarily, when the color in the culture dish 100 is yellow, the controller 40 receives the indication signal from the sensor 20 and controls the indicator 30 to make a voice announcement, such as making a voice announcement three times that "the color of the culture medium 200 is yellow, and the acidity is too high."
[0049] In this embodiment, the incubator 10 includes a box body 102 and a plurality of partitions 103. The plurality of partitions 103 are located inside the box body 102, and the plurality of partitions 103 are sequentially arranged in a vertical direction perpendicular to a horizontal plane to form a plurality of compartments 50. Each compartment 50 has a sensor 20 and a culture dish placement area 101 therein.
[0050] It is worth noting that the partitions 103 in the incubator 10 are all opaque and non-reflective to avoid affecting the sensing accuracy of the sensor 20 .
[0051] For example, see Figure 1Since there are multiple partitions 103 in the incubator 10 to divide the space inside the box body 102 into multiple compartments 50, each partition 103 is provided with a culture dish placement area 101, and each culture dish placement area 101 has a corresponding sensor 20 for sensing, so that multiple culture dishes 100 containing culture media 200 can be separated and placed in different culture dish placement areas 101 on different partitions 103 for cell culture. The cell cultures performed in each culture dish 100 are not affected by each other, and the color changes in each culture dish 100 can be monitored by the sensor 20 at the same time.
[0052] In this embodiment, there are at least two culture dish placement areas 101 in each compartment 50, and each culture dish placement area 101 is located on the partition 103 and arranged at intervals. The sensor 20 corresponds to the culture dish placement area 101 one by one, and the sensor 20 is located on the partition 103 or the inner wall of the box 102.
[0053] For example, see Figure 1 Since the internal space of the box body 102 is divided into four compartments 50 by the partition 103, and two culture dish placement areas 101 are arranged at intervals in three of the compartments 50, and two sensors 20 corresponding to the two culture dish placement areas 101 are also arranged at intervals on the partition 103 or the inner wall of the box body 102, six culture dishes 100 can be placed in the incubator 10 at the same time, and six cell culture experiments can be carried out at the same time, thereby improving the experimental efficiency of cell culture. As long as the color of a culture dish 100 in the incubator 10 changes, the indicator 30 outside the incubator 10 will receive the indication signal and make corresponding light changes, so that the experimenter can timely grasp the cell culture status of the culture dish 100 in the incubator 10.
[0054] For example, see Figure 1 The box body 102 has four compartments 50 arranged in sequence from top to bottom. The two sensors 20 in the top compartment 50 are arranged at intervals on the inner wall of the box body 102 , and the four sensors 20 in the middle two compartments 50 are arranged at intervals on the inner wall of the partition 103 .
[0055] Optionally, a magnetic sticker is attached to the sensor 20, and the box 102 and the partition 103 are both made of magnetic materials. The sensor 20 is fixed to the inner wall of the box 102 or the partition 103 by the attraction between the magnetic materials.
[0056] Optionally, the sensor 20 is fixed to the inner wall of the box 102 or the partition 103 by welding.
[0057] Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a cell culture device provided in an embodiment of the present disclosure, such as Figure 2 As shown, in this embodiment, the indicators 30 correspond to the culture dish placement areas 101 one by one.
[0058] It is worth noting that see Figure 1 and Figure 2 , counting from top to bottom and from left to right, the first indicator 30 in the first row corresponds to the first sensor 20 and the culture dish 100 in the first row in the box 102, and the first sensor 20 and the culture dish 100 in the first row in the box 102 correspond to each other, and so on, the culture dishes 100 on the culture dish placement area 101 sensed by each sensor 20 and the indicators 30 that transmit indication signals are all in groups of three, one to one.
[0059] For example, because each indicator 30 corresponds to only one culture dish placement area 101, and each indicator 30 has a corresponding sensor 20 to transmit an indication signal to it, when a sensor 20 senses the color change of the corresponding culture dish 100, the corresponding indicator 30 will only receive the indication signal of the corresponding sensor 20, and then the corresponding indicator 30 changes to a corresponding light, so that the experimenter can intuitively and clearly observe which culture dish 100 in the incubator 10 has changed color.
[0060] In this embodiment, the box body 102 includes a box body 1021 and a box door 1022. One side of the box body 1021 is open. The box door 1022 is pivotally connected to the box body 1021 so that the box door 1022 covers the opening of the box body 1021.
[0061] For example, because the door 1022 can completely cover the open side of the box body 102 when closed, the device can form a culture environment in the incubator 10 that can reduce the impact of external light by closing the door 1022, so as to avoid the impact of long-term light on cell culture.
[0062] Optional, see Figure 2 The box body 102 also includes a door handle 1023, which is fixed to the side of the box door 1022 away from the box body 1021. Because the door handle 1023 is fixedly connected to the box door 1022, the experimenter does not need to touch the box body 1021 every time when opening the box door 1022, thereby reducing the contamination of the culture dish 100 in the box body 1021 caused by human contact with the box body 1021.
[0063] Optional, see Figure 1The box body 102 further includes a hinge 1024, one end of the hinge 1024 is connected to a side of the box door 1022 close to the box body 1021, and the other end of the hinge 1024 is connected to a side of the box body 1021 close to the box door 1022. Because the box door 1022 and the box body 1021 are connected in a switchable manner by means of the hinge 1024, the box door 1022 can cover the opening of the box body 1021 to form a condition that reduces the influence of light inside, and it is also convenient to open the box door 1022 when taking out the culture dish 100 inside the incubator 10.
[0064] In this embodiment, the cell culture device further includes a fill light 60 . The fill light 60 is located inside the compartment 50 , and each compartment 50 has a fill light 60 inside. The fill light 60 is connected to the partition 103 or the inner wall of the box 102 .
[0065] It is worth noting that see Figure 1 The box 102 has four compartments 50, which are arranged from top to bottom. The two fill lights 60 in the top compartment 50 are arranged at intervals on the inner wall of the box 102, and the four fill lights 60 in the middle two compartments 50 are arranged at intervals on the partition 103.
[0066] For example, see Figure 1 A fill light 60 is also placed in each compartment 50 where a sensor 20 is placed. The fill light 60 is located on the inner wall of the partition 103 or the box 102, so that when the sensor 20 senses the color of the culture dish 100 placed in the corresponding culture dish placement area 101, the fill light 60 can be turned on to improve the accuracy of color sensing.
[0067] Optionally, the fill light 60 is an LED white light, which not only does not affect the sensing of the sensor 20 to the color change, but also has the advantages of high efficiency and energy saving, long life and flexible design.
[0068] Optionally, a magnetic sticker is attached to the fill light 60, and the box 102 and the partition 103 are both made of magnetic materials. The fill light 60 is fixed to the inner wall of the box 102 or the partition 103 by the attraction of the magnetic materials.
[0069] Optionally, the fill light 60 is fixed to the inner wall of the box 102 or the partition 103 by means of screw connection.
[0070] In this embodiment, the fill light 60 corresponds to the culture dish placement area 101 one by one.
[0071] For example, see Figure 1Because a supplementary light 60 facing the culture dish placement area 101 is placed next to each sensor 20, each sensor 20 can have supplementary light when sensing the color change of the corresponding culture dish 100, thereby improving the accuracy of sensing the color change of the culture dish 100 each time.
[0072] In this embodiment, the controller 40 is electrically connected to the fill light 60, and the controller 40 can control the activation frequency of the fill light 60 so that the activation frequency of the fill light 60 corresponds to the sensing frequency of the sensor 20. That is, when the sensor 20 starts sensing, the fill light 60 is turned on at the same time, thereby performing fill light, and effectively improving the accuracy of color sensing.
[0073] For example, see Figure 2 Because the controller 40 is connected to the side of the door 1022 away from the box body 102, the experimenter can set and adjust the lighting frequency of the fill light 60 for color sensing of the auxiliary sensor 20 without opening the incubator 10.
[0074] Optionally, because the experimenter can set the lighting cycle of the fill light 60 to light up once every 3 hours and each lighting time is 3 seconds through the controller 40, the impact of long-term lighting on cell culture can be reduced, and the sensing after the fill light can also improve the accuracy of the sensing.
[0075] In this embodiment, the indicator 30 is connected to the box door 1022 .
[0076] For example, see Figure 2 A total of six indicators 30 are arranged at intervals on the side of the box door 1022 away from the box body 1021. Since the indicators 30 are connected to the side of the box door 1022 away from the box body 102, the experimenter can observe the color and pH conditions of the culture dishes 100 inside the incubator 10 by observing the lighting conditions of the indicators 30 on the box door 1022 when the box door 1022 is in the closed state.
[0077] In this embodiment, the cell culture device further comprises a water receiving member 70 . The water receiving member 70 is located inside the culture box 10 , and the orthographic projection of the culture dish placement area 101 on the plane where the water receiving member 70 is located is located inside the water receiving member 70 .
[0078] It is worth noting that the water receiving member 70 is a trough-shaped water tray, which can be used to contain water, replenish the water required for cell culture, and adjust the humidity in the cell culture environment.
[0079] For example, see Figure 1The water receiving member 70 is placed separately in a compartment 50 inside the incubator 10 where there is no sensor 20 and a culture dish placement area 101, so that the culture medium 200 in the culture dish 100 can be replenished with a certain amount of water in time, while also reducing the direct impact of water vapor in the water receiving member 70 on the sensing effect of the sensor 20.
[0080] The above are only optional embodiments of the present disclosure and are not intended to limit the present disclosure. Any modifications, equivalent substitutions, improvements, etc. made within the spirit and principles of the present disclosure should be included in the protection scope of the present disclosure.
Claims
1. A cell culture device, characterized in that: It includes an incubator (10), a sensor (20), an indicator (30) and a controller (40); The incubator (10) has a culture dish placement area (101); The sensor (20) is located inside the incubator (10), and the sensing port of the sensor (20) faces the culture dish placement area (101); The indicator (30) is located outside the incubator (10); The controller (40) is electrically connected to the sensor (20) and the indicator (30) respectively; The sensor (20) is configured to sense the color of the culture dish placement area (101) and send an indication signal to the controller (40) according to the sensed color; The controller (40) is configured to control the indicator (30) to output an indication after receiving the indication signal.
2. The cell culture device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The incubator (10) comprises a box body (102) and a plurality of partitions (103); The plurality of partitions (103) are located inside the box body (102), and the plurality of partitions (103) are sequentially spaced apart in a vertical direction perpendicular to a horizontal plane to form a plurality of compartments (50); Each of the compartments (50) has the sensor (20) and the culture dish placement area (101) inside.
3. The cell culture device according to claim 2, characterized in that: The number of the culture dish placement areas (101) in each compartment (50) is at least two, and each of the culture dish placement areas (101) is located on the partition (103) and arranged at intervals; The sensors (20) correspond one to one with the culture dish placement areas (101), and the sensors (20) are located on the partition (103) or the inner wall of the box (102).
4. The cell culture device according to claim 3, characterized in that: The indicators (30) correspond one to one with the culture dish placement areas (101).
5. The cell culture device according to claim 2, characterized in that: The box body (102) comprises a box body (1021) and a box door (1022); One side of the box body (1021) is open; The box door (1022) is pivotally connected to the box body (1021) so that the box door (1022) covers the opening of the box body (1021).
6. The cell culture device according to claim 5, characterized in that: The indicator (30) is connected to the box door (1022).
7. The cell culture device according to claim 2, characterized in that: The cell culture device also includes a supplementary light (60); The fill light (60) is located inside the compartment (50), and each compartment (50) has the fill light (60) inside, and the fill light (60) is connected to the partition (103) or the inner wall of the box (102).
8. The cell culture device according to claim 7, characterized in that: The fill light (60) corresponds one to one with the culture dish placement area (101).
9. The cell culture device according to any one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that: The sensor (20) is a color sensor; The indicator (30) is any one of an indicator light, a voice announcer, and a display.
10. The cell culture device according to any one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that: The cell culture device further comprises a water receiving member (70); The water receiving member (70) is located inside the culture box (10), and the orthographic projection of the culture dish placement area (101) on the plane where the water receiving member (70) is located is located inside the water receiving member (70).