Aseptic Storage Container with Segmented Sterilizable End Segment
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Current storage and cultivation systems for biological development materials lack aseptic conditions during transport and processing, leading to contamination and limited growth capabilities, especially for high-growth or large-volume materials, and do not allow for hermetic sterilization and self-opening.
Innovation Solution
A storage container with a substrate for growth or propagation, designed to maintain an aseptic atmosphere, featuring a dimensionally stable middle segment with a gas-permeable end segment for aseptic transport and sterilization, and a modular growth and propagation station for controlled climate and nutrient management.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a hermetic storage container is used for aseptic transport, then contamination is prevented, but the container cannot be sterilized after introduction into the cultivation room
Solution Approach 1:
The storage container is divided into a hermetic transport section and a cultivation section. The transport section maintains hermetic sealing during transport, while the cultivation section is designed to be sterilizable and can be opened in the cultivation room. This segmentation allows each section to fulfill its specific function without compromising the other.
Solution Approach 2:
The container is pre-assembled in a non-sterile state with all components in place, then sterilized as a complete unit before use. This preliminary sterilization action ensures that the entire container system is sterile before introducing development material, eliminating the need for post-introduction sterilization.
2Productivity
If the storage container is designed for high-growth or large-volume development material, then cultivation capacity is improved, but the container volume increases
Solution Approach 1:
The storage container features a nested structure where a removable inner container holds the development material and substrate, which can be inserted into or removed from the outer hermetic container. This nesting allows the cultivation components to be compact during transport but expanded during cultivation, maximizing space utilization.
Solution Approach 2:
The container design allows dynamic reconfiguration - the inner container can be removed from the outer container to provide access to the development material while maintaining the hermetic seal of the outer container during transport. This dynamic structure enables the system to adapt between compact transport mode and expanded cultivation mode.
3Volume of stationary object
If the substrate is arranged stationarily on the wall of the storage container, then space is optimized, but the substrate cannot be easily replaced or maintained
Solution Approach 1:
The substrate system is segmented into a removable inner container that can be easily extracted from the storage container. This segmentation allows the substrate to be replaced or maintained by simply removing the inner container, without needing to access the wall-mounted structure, thus maintaining space efficiency while improving maintainability.
4Productivity
If the storage container is designed for automated handling, then productivity is improved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The storage container is designed with universal features that serve multiple functions: the hermetic seal provides both contamination protection and structural integrity for automated handling; the standardized dimensions enable both automated stacking/transport and manual access; the removable inner container system provides both protection during transport and easy access for maintenance. These multi-functional design elements reduce the need for separate specialized components.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Ensures aseptic conditions for biological materials during transport and growth, allowing for optimal development and expansion, meeting regulatory standards for pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, and food supplements, while enabling efficient sterilization and controlled environment cultivation.
Implementation Method 1
The substrate forms the surface that allows growth or propagation of biological living developmental material... Porous materials, such as porous rock or a sponge material, or gel-like materials, such as hydrogels or gels of biological materials, are particularly well suited for this purpose. Particularly preferably, the development material has a high water absorption capacity.
Implementation Method 2
Porous materials, such as porous rock or a sponge material... are particularly well suited for this purpose
Data Source
AI summary
A storage container includes an interior space and a substrate disposed therein, a biological living development material disposed in or on the substrate. The storage container is a sealed capsule to provide an aseptic atmosphere. The substrate is an absorbent material having a water absorption capacity in the dry state of at least 50 g water/cm3. The storage container has two end segments and a tubular middle segment. The substrate and the development material are arranged in the middle segment. At least a first one of the end segments is arranged opposite the middle segment. The substrate and the development material are arranged in the middle segment. At least a second one of the end segments is arranged opposite the middle segment and has a smaller wall thickness than the middle segment, has a wall material that is more thermally, physically, or chemically susceptible to attack than the middle segment, has a predetermined separation point.