Autonomous Warmers for Optimal Cell Dissociation Temperature
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current cell grafting protocols require expensive and ecologically impactful electronic heating units for maintaining optimal temperatures during cell dissociation, making them inaccessible to practitioners without laboratory facilities, and prolonging the process due to lower enzyme activity at lower temperatures.
Innovation Solution
The use of warmers based on exothermic physical or chemical processes, such as supercooled sodium acetate or chemical warmers, to maintain enzymatic solutions at optimal temperatures for cell dissociation, combined with an insulating support to enhance heat retention and transfer, allowing for efficient cell dissociation without sophisticated laboratory equipment.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If electronic heating units with batteries are used to maintain optimal temperature for cell dissociation, then the enzyme activity and dissociation efficiency are improved, but the cost and ecological impact increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces expensive, complex electronic heating units with simple, disposable chemical warmers that can be discarded after a single use. These warmers are based on exothermic chemical reactions (such as oxidation of iron powder) that generate heat without requiring electronics, batteries, or complex control systems, thereby dramatically reducing cost and ecological impact while maintaining adequate heating functionality for the required duration.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent substitutes the electronic/mechanical heating system with a chemical system. Instead of using electrical elements, motors, sensors, and control circuits, the invention employs chemical reactions (exothermic oxidation) to generate the necessary heat for enzyme activity, thereby eliminating the need for sophisticated laboratory equipment.
2Device complexity
If lower temperature incubation is used for cell dissociation, then equipment requirements are reduced, but the enzyme activity decreases and incubation time must be prolonged by several hours
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the temperature parameter by introducing chemical warmers that actively maintain the optimal temperature range (37°C) for trypsin activity. This allows the enzyme to function at its peak efficiency without requiring complex electronic temperature control systems, thereby achieving both simplified equipment requirements and reduced incubation time compared to lower temperature protocols.
3Ease of operation
If protocols are carried out without incubators in simple practices, then accessibility is improved, but the ability to maintain optimal temperature for enzyme activity is compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements self-service temperature control through chemical warmers that automatically generate and maintain heat through exothermic reactions. These warmers require no external power source, control systems, or sophisticated equipment - they simply activate and provide the necessary thermal environment for enzyme activity, enabling practitioners in simple settings to perform cell dissociation protocols effectively.
Solution Approach 2:
The chemical warmers utilize phase transitions in chemical reactions (oxidation of iron powder from metallic to oxidized state) to generate heat. This exothermic phase change provides a reliable, self-regulating heat source that maintains optimal temperature for enzyme activity without requiring external temperature control infrastructure.
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
This solution enables efficient cell dissociation at optimal temperatures for extended periods, reducing process time and costs while maintaining the quality of results, making it suitable for dermatology practices and other applications without the need for incubators.
Implementation Method 1
The subject of the present invention is in particular kits comprising a simple and inexpensive autonomous heating means for treating biopsies. The inventors have shown (examples 1 and 3 below) that a solution placed in a container, typically a Petri dish, placed on a warmer, reaches, in a few minutes, an optimum temperature for the activity of numerous enzymes
Implementation Method 2
By way of example of a warmer based on a physical process, mention may be made of the reusable warmers consisting of a pouch containing a supercooled sodium acetate-saturated aqueous solution. By bending a metal disk inside the liquid, crystals of solidified acetate are generated, which trigger crystallization, and the solution becomes solid. Since this phase transition takes place at the melting point (54° for a 20% solution, for example), there is heating of the pouch
Implementation Method 3
The present invention also relates to a support which comprises a cavity intended to receive the warmer. The support comprises, for example, a plate of thermally insulating material having a thickness between 5 and 35 mm, in which the cavity intended to receive the warmer has a depth between 5 and 25 mm
Data Source
AI summary
The present invention relates to the use of warmers, or autonomous heat packs, for heating and maintaining a solution on at a suitable temperature, for the period of time required to accomplish a chemical, biochemical or biological reaction, in particular in molecular biology or cell biology applications. Biology kits containing warmers are also part of this invention.