Microorganism culture device
By using separators to divide the culture tank and the inclined surface design in the microbial culture device, the problems of low culture efficiency and poor detection accuracy in the existing technology are solved, and uniform culture of microorganisms and rapid and accurate detection results are achieved.
Patent Information
- Authority / Receiving Office
- CN · China
- Patent Type
- Utility models(China)
- Current Assignee / Owner
- BEIJING CELLBRI FUTURE BIOTECHNOLOGY CO LTD
- Filing Date
- 2025-07-01
- Publication Date
- 2026-07-24
AI Technical Summary
Existing microbial culture devices have low culture efficiency and poor detection accuracy, mainly due to the random distribution of microorganisms caused by the vertical wall structure, and the presence of shadows that create blind spots during optical detection.
A microbial culture device is designed, in which the lower cavity is divided into multiple culture tanks by a separator. The inner sidewall of the culture tank is provided with a first inclined surface with an inclination angle of 10°-20°. The sample is introduced into the upper cavity through the sample inlet. The inclined surface guides the sample to settle and accumulate. A transparent observation window is provided at the bottom for easy optical detection.
It enables uniform cultivation and rapid detection of microorganisms, shortens incubation time, avoids microbial migration, improves detection efficiency and accuracy, eliminates optical detection blind spots, and enhances detection reliability.
Smart Images
Figure CN224548423U_ABST
Abstract
Description
Technical Field
[0001] This utility model belongs to the field of biomedical technology, and in particular relates to a microbial culture device. Background Technology
[0002] Aseptic testing is a key technology for analyzing and detecting microorganisms, and it is currently widely used in fields such as biomedicine, medical devices, and food engineering. Microbial culture refers to the process of artificially controlling environmental conditions (such as temperature, humidity, and nutrients) to allow microorganisms to grow and reproduce in a specific carrier, aiming to increase the number of microorganisms or accumulate target metabolites, thereby facilitating the detection of the presence of microorganisms in the sample. In existing technologies, microbial culture carriers, such as multi-well plates or traditional cartridges, generally use a vertical wall structure for their wells, lacking the ability to guide liquids, resulting in a relatively random distribution of microorganisms and reducing culture efficiency. Furthermore, during optical detection, the vertical walls can create shadows, forming detection blind spots and affecting the accuracy of the test. Summary of the Invention
[0003] This invention addresses the technical problems of low cultivation efficiency and low detection accuracy in existing microbial culture devices by providing a microbial culture device.
[0004] In view of the above technical problems, this utility model provides a microbial culture device, including a separator and a culture body with a microbial culture chamber. The microbial culture chamber includes an upper cavity and a lower cavity arranged from top to bottom and interconnected. The separator is located in the lower cavity and is used to divide the lower cavity into multiple culture tanks. All the culture tanks are connected to the upper cavity. A first inclined surface is provided on the inner sidewall of each culture tank. From the top to the bottom of each culture tank, each first inclined surface is inclined from the edge of its respective culture tank toward the center point. The culture body is also provided with a sample inlet connected to the upper cavity.
[0005] Optionally, the inclination angle of the first inclined plane is in the range of 10°-20°.
[0006] Optionally, a second inclined surface is provided on the inner wall of the upper cavity; from the top to the bottom of the upper cavity, the second inclined surface is inclined from the edge of the upper cavity toward the center point.
[0007] Optionally, the inclination angle of the second inclined plane ranges from 10° to 20°.
[0008] Optionally, the culture body includes a cover plate, a first connector, a second connector, and a bottom plate stacked from top to bottom; the upper cavity is formed between the cover plate and the first connector, the lower cavity is formed between the second connector and the bottom plate, and the separator is located in the lower cavity and connected to the bottom plate.
[0009] Optionally, the culture body is made of a transparent material; and / or
[0010] The height of the upper cavity is 15mm-25mm; and / or
[0011] The height of the culture tank is 3mm-5mm.
[0012] Optionally, in two adjacent culture tanks, the distance between the bottom edges of the first target slope and the second target slope is 0.8mm-1.2mm; wherein, the first target slope refers to the first slope of one culture tank facing the other culture tank, and the second target slope refers to the first slope on the other culture tank opposite to the first target slope.
[0013] Optionally, the bottom of the culture tank is provided with a transparent observation window of a preset area.
[0014] Optionally, a hydrophilic layer is provided on the inner wall of the microbial culture chamber.
[0015] Optionally, the microbial culture device further includes a connector installed at the inlet for connecting to an external sample container.
[0016] In this invention, the lower cavity is divided into multiple culture tanks by a separator, allowing the sample to be evenly distributed into these tanks for cultivation and detection. This significantly shortens the incubation time required for signal detection, enabling rapid analysis and improving detection efficiency. Simultaneously, it effectively prevents the migration of microorganisms from the sample between different culture tanks, avoiding resource competition and ensuring that each tank's microorganisms can be cultured in a relatively independent and stable environment. This promotes the enrichment of microorganisms and their metabolites, providing favorable conditions for growth and colorimetric reactions, thus improving detection accuracy and reliability. Furthermore, the first inclined surface on the inner wall of the culture tank effectively guides the sample to settle and accumulate at the bottom, facilitating detection in the optical detection area at the bottom of the tank, improving accuracy. Additionally, during optical detection at a standard focal length (16mm), it prevents shadows from the inner wall of the culture tank from being projected onto the bottom of the tank (the optical detection area), eliminating blind spots and further enhancing accuracy and reliability. Attached Figure Description
[0017] The present invention will be further described below with reference to the accompanying drawings and embodiments.
[0018] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of a microbial culture device provided in an embodiment of the present invention.
[0019] Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of a microbial culture device provided in another embodiment of this utility model.
[0020] Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of a microbial culture device provided in another embodiment of the present invention.
[0021] The reference numerals in the accompanying drawings are as follows:
[0022] 100. Separator; 200. Culture body; 210. Microbial culture chamber; 220. Upper chamber; 221. Second inclined surface; 230. Lower chamber; 240. Culture tank; 241. First inclined surface; 250. Sample inlet; 260. Cover plate; 270. First connector; 280. Second connector; 290. Base plate; 300. Connector. Detailed Implementation
[0023] To make the technical problems solved, technical solutions, and beneficial effects of this utility model clearer, the present utility model will be further described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and embodiments. It should be understood that the specific embodiments described herein are only used to explain this utility model and are not intended to limit this utility model.
[0024] like Figures 1 to 3 As shown, one embodiment of this utility model provides a microbial culture device, including a separator 100 and a culture body 200 with a microbial culture chamber 210. The microbial culture chamber 210 includes an upper cavity 220 and a lower cavity 230 arranged from top to bottom and interconnected. The separator 100 is located in the lower cavity 230 and is used to divide the lower cavity 230 into multiple culture tanks 240. All the culture tanks 240 are connected to the upper cavity 220. A first inclined surface 241 is provided on the inner sidewall of the culture tank 240. From the top to the bottom of the culture tank 240, each first inclined surface 241 is inclined from the edge of its respective culture tank 240 toward the center point. The culture body 200 is also provided with a sample inlet 250 that connects to the upper cavity 220.
[0025] Understandably, the sample to be tested (e.g., bacterial culture medium) can be injected into the microbial culture chamber 210 via an external pipeline or by injection using a syringe through the inlet 250. The lower chamber 230 is used to contain microorganisms and allow them to be cultured and incubated in the culture tank 240 within the lower chamber 230. The upper chamber 220 is used to guide the sample to be tested into the culture tank through the inlet 250 and to contain the culture gas for the growth of microorganisms in the lower chamber 230. The bottom of the culture tank 240 is the optical detection area.
[0026] In one embodiment, the bottom of the culture tank 240 is provided with a transparent observation window of a preset area. Further, the preset area of the transparent observation window is 3mm × 3mm. It is understood that the bottom of the culture tank 240 is transparent, thereby facilitating optical detection. The preset area can be set according to actual conditions. In one embodiment, the preset area is equal to the bottom area of the culture tank 240.
[0027] In some embodiments, a hydrophilic layer (not shown) is provided on the inner wall of the microbial culture chamber 210. Specifically, the inner wall of the microbial culture chamber 210 can be hydrophilically modified to facilitate bubble-free liquid entry, for example, by using a polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) coating process or a plasma process to form a hydrophilic layer on the inner wall of the microbial culture chamber 210. Understandably, the first inclined surface 241 (and the second inclined surface 221 mentioned below) of this invention is provided with a hydrophilic layer. The separator 100 divides the lower cavity 230 into a plurality of arrayed culture tanks 240, with the first inclined surface 241 located on the separator 100. The number and volume of the culture tanks 240 can be set according to actual conditions. For example, the shape, size, and spacing of the culture tanks 240 can be adjusted according to the volume requirements of different test samples, thereby improving the adaptability to various sample liquid volumes and enabling the microbial culture device to be widely used in various microbial culture scenarios.
[0028] like Figure 1As shown, in one embodiment, the separator 100 divides the lower cavity 230 into 10×10 arrayed culture tanks 240. The inclination angle of the first inclined surface 241 can be set according to actual conditions, as long as the first inclined surface 241 is inclined from the edge of its respective culture tank 240 toward the center point. The first inclined surface 241 can be injection molded by the separator 100 to improve the angular accuracy of the first inclined surface 241. From the top to the bottom of the culture tank 240, each first inclined surface 241 is inclined from the edge of its respective culture tank 240 toward the center point, so that the cross-section of the separator 100 between two adjacent culture tanks 240 in the vertical direction is a trapezoid or triangle that is narrower at the top and wider at the bottom, thereby forming a guiding structure to facilitate the sedimentation and enrichment of the sample to be tested to the bottom of the culture tank 240, and to facilitate the detection of the sample to be tested in the optical detection area at the bottom of the culture tank 240.
[0029] In the above embodiments of this utility model, the lower cavity 230 is divided into multiple culture tanks 240 by the separator 100. The sample to be tested is evenly distributed into multiple culture tanks 240 for culture and detection, which can significantly shorten the incubation time required for signal detection of the sample to be tested (the presence of microorganisms in the sample can be determined by the detection of microorganisms in some of the culture tanks 240). This enables rapid detection and analysis, improves detection efficiency, and effectively prevents the migration of microorganisms in the sample to be tested between different culture tanks 240, avoids resource competition between microorganisms, and ensures that the microorganisms in each culture tank 240 can be cultured in a relatively independent and stable environment. This is conducive to the enrichment of microorganisms and their metabolites, provides good conditions for microbial growth and colorimetric reactions, and improves the accuracy and reliability of detection. Furthermore, the first inclined surface 241 provided on the inner wall of the culture tank 240 can effectively guide the sample to be tested to settle and accumulate at the bottom of the culture tank 240, which facilitates the detection of the sample in the optical detection area at the bottom of the culture tank 240, thus improving the accuracy of the detection. At the same time, during optical detection at the standard focal length (16mm), the shadow of the inner wall of the culture tank 240 can be avoided from being projected onto the bottom of the culture tank 240, i.e., the optical detection area, thus eliminating the detection blind zone and improving the accuracy and reliability of the detection.
[0030] In one embodiment, the inclination angle of the first inclined surface 241 ranges from 10° to 20°. Understandably, two adjacent culture tanks 240 can be symmetrically arranged; in this case, the aforementioned inclination angle is the angle between the first inclined surface 241 and the plane of symmetry (vertical plane) between the two adjacent culture tanks 240. Setting the first inclined surface 241 to the aforementioned inclination angle better guides the sample to be tested to settle and accumulate at the bottom of the culture tank 240.
[0031] In one embodiment, the culture body 200 is made of a transparent material. Understandably, the culture body 200 can be made of a transparent, corrosion-resistant, and biocompatible medical-grade material, such as polypropylene (PP) or polystyrene (PS). The connection between the separator 100 and the culture body 200 can be achieved through one or more of the following methods: integral molding, bonding, or snap-fitting.
[0032] In one embodiment, the height of the upper cavity 220 is 15mm-25mm. In another embodiment, the height of the culture tank 240 is 3mm-5mm.
[0033] In one embodiment, the distance between the bottom edges of the first target inclined surface and the second target inclined surface in two adjacent culture tanks 240 is 0.8 mm to 1.2 mm; wherein, the first target inclined surface refers to the first inclined surface 241 of one culture tank 240 facing the other culture tank, and the second target inclined surface refers to the first inclined surface 241 on the other culture tank 240 opposite to the first target inclined surface. Specifically, the top edges of the first target inclined surface and the second target inclined surface in two adjacent culture tanks 240 coincide, and their bottom edges are parallel to each other. The distance between the bottom edges of the first target inclined surface and the second target inclined surface is preferably 1 mm.
[0034] In one embodiment, the upper cavity 220 has a height of 20 mm, and the culture tank 240 has a height of 3 mm. The distance between the bottom edges of the first and second target inclined surfaces is 1 mm, and the inclination angle of the first inclined surface 241 is 16.5°. In this case, during optical detection at a standard focal length (16 mm), the shadow cast by the inner wall of the culture tank 240 onto the bottom of the culture tank 240, i.e., the optical detection area, can be completely avoided, eliminating the detection blind zone and improving the accuracy and reliability of the detection.
[0035] like Figure 1 and Figure 2 As shown, in one embodiment, a second inclined surface 221 is provided on the inner wall of the upper cavity 220; from the top to the bottom of the upper cavity 220, the second inclined surface 221 is inclined from the edge of the upper cavity 220 toward the center point. Understandably, the second inclined surface 221 is used to guide the sample to be tested to flow quickly from the upper cavity 220 to the lower cavity 230, preventing the sample from remaining in the upper cavity 220. The inclination angle of the second inclined surface 221 can be set according to actual conditions.
[0036] In one embodiment, the inclination angle of the second inclined surface 221 ranges from 10° to 20°. Further, the inclination angle of the second inclined surface 221 is 16.5°.
[0037] like Figure 3 As shown, in one embodiment, the culture body 200 includes a cover plate 260, a first connector 270, a second connector 280, and a base plate 290 stacked from top to bottom; an upper cavity 220 is formed between the cover plate 260 and the first connector 270, a lower cavity 230 is formed between the second connector 280 and the base plate 290, and a separator 100 is located in the lower cavity 230 and connected to the base plate 290. It can be understood that the cover plate 260, the first connector 270, the second connector 280, and the base plate 290 together form a sealed space (including the upper cavity 220 and the lower cavity 230) to ensure the sterility of the microbial culture environment. The connection methods between the cover plate 260, the first connector 270, the second connector 280 and the base plate 290 include, but are not limited to, one or more of the following: bonding, snap-fitting or integral molding, as long as a stable connection can be formed between the cover plate 260, the first connector 270, the second connector 280 and the base plate 290.
[0038] like Figures 1 to 3 As shown, in one embodiment, the microbial culture device further includes a connector 300 installed at the sample inlet 250 for connecting to an external sample container. Understandably, the connector 300 may be a Luer connector for connecting to an external container via tubing to input the sample to be tested from the external container into the microbial culture chamber 210. The connector 300 may be made of polyetheretherketone (PEEK), which has excellent chemical resistance and mechanical strength.
[0039] The above are merely embodiments of the microbial culture device of this utility model and are not intended to limit this utility model. Any modifications, equivalent substitutions, and improvements made within the spirit and principles of this utility model should be included within the protection scope of this utility model.
Claims
1. A microbial culture device, characterized in that, The device includes a separator and a culture body with a microbial culture chamber. The microbial culture chamber includes an upper cavity and a lower cavity that are arranged from top to top and are interconnected. The separator is located in the lower cavity and is used to divide the lower cavity into multiple culture tanks. All the culture tanks are connected to the upper cavity; the inner wall of the culture tank is provided with a first inclined surface; from the top to the bottom of the culture tank, each of the first inclined surfaces is inclined from the edge of the culture tank to the center point; the culture body is also provided with a sample inlet connected to the upper cavity.
2. The microbial culture device according to claim 1, characterized in that, The inclination angle of the first inclined plane ranges from 10° to 20°.
3. The microbial culture device according to claim 1, characterized in that, The inner wall of the upper cavity is provided with a second inclined surface; from the top to the bottom of the upper cavity, the second inclined surface is inclined from the edge of the upper cavity toward the center point.
4. The microbial culture device according to claim 3, characterized in that, The inclination angle of the second inclined plane ranges from 10° to 20°.
5. The microbial culture device according to claim 1, characterized in that, The culture body includes a cover plate, a first connector, a second connector, and a bottom plate stacked from top to bottom; the upper cavity is formed between the cover plate and the first connector, the lower cavity is formed between the second connector and the bottom plate, and the separator is located in the lower cavity and connected to the bottom plate.
6. The microbial culture device according to claim 1, characterized in that, The culture medium is made of a transparent material; and / or The height of the upper cavity is 15mm-25mm; and / or The height of the culture tank is 3mm-5mm.
7. The microbial culture device according to claim 1, characterized in that, In two adjacent culture tanks, the distance between the bottom edges of the first target slope and the second target slope is 0.8mm-1.2mm; wherein, the first target slope refers to the first slope of one culture tank facing the other culture tank, and the second target slope refers to the first slope on the other culture tank opposite to the first target slope.
8. The microbial culture device according to claim 1, characterized in that, The bottom of the culture tank is provided with a transparent observation window of a preset area.
9. The microbial culture device according to claim 1, characterized in that, The inner wall of the microbial culture chamber is provided with a hydrophilic layer.
10. The microbial culture device according to claim 1, characterized in that, The microbial culture device also includes a connector installed at the inlet for connecting to an external sample container.