Cell Culture Ventilation Adapter with Airtight CO2 Gas Holding
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing automatic culture devices face challenges in maintaining a stable CO2 gas concentration for cell culture while minimizing the risk of microbial contamination and operational complexity, particularly in environments requiring high cleanliness for cell transplantation.
Innovation Solution
An automatic culture device with a ventilation adapter that supplies CO2 gas to a culture vessel through a gas holding space forming portion, ensuring airtight maintenance of the gas concentration and reducing humidity and microbial risk using a flexible rubber component to support the gas exchange membrane.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a CO2 incubator is used to maintain constant CO2 gas concentration, then cell culture can be performed, but the risk of microbial contamination increases due to water contact with atmosphere
Solution Approach 1:
The invention divides the CO2 supply system into separate functional components: a CO2 gas supply unit, a ventilation adapter with gas holding space, and a culture vessel. This segmentation allows the CO2 maintenance function to be isolated from the culture environment, eliminating the need for a CO2 incubator and its associated water humidification system that risks microbial contamination.
Solution Approach 2:
The ventilation adapter acts as an intermediary component between the CO2 supply unit and the culture vessel. It includes a gas holding space that maintains CO2 concentration without requiring the culture vessel to be sealed in a CO2 incubator, thus eliminating the harmful water-atmosphere contact while still providing stable CO2 supply.
2Reliability
If a ventilation chamber with high airtightness is provided, then gas concentration can be maintained, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of requiring high airtightness throughout the entire ventilation chamber, the invention applies sealing only where necessary - at the interface between the gas holding space and the culture vessel. The gas holding space is designed to maintain positive pressure locally, and sealing members are positioned only at critical interfaces, significantly reducing overall device complexity while maintaining gas concentration stability.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention changes the pressure parameter within the gas holding space to maintain positive pressure, which naturally prevents gas leakage and simplifies sealing requirements. This parameter change allows for easier gas concentration maintenance without complex airtight structures.
3Reliability
If manual operations are used in cell processing center, then specialized techniques can be applied, but productivity is limited and costs are high
Solution Approach 1:
The ventilation adapter with gas holding space is designed to automatically maintain CO2 concentration through its own internal mechanism, eliminating the need for manual CO2 incubator operations. This self-service capability allows for automated culture operations, significantly improving productivity while maintaining quality control through consistent gas concentration maintenance.
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
The device maintains optimal CO2 gas concentration for cell culture with a simple configuration, reducing the risk of microbial contamination and operational complexity, enabling efficient and cost-effective cell culture operations.
Implementation Method 1
a gas holding space forming portion that airtightly holds the gas containing CO2 supplied from the gas supply unit when the culture vessel is placed at a predetermined position of the ventilation adapter
Implementation Method 2
Gas exchange is performed by dissolving a gas in a space present above the culture medium in the culture vessel into the culture medium or releasing a gas in the culture medium into the space
Data Source
AI summary
An automatic culture device includes: a ventilation adapter configured to supply, in a state in which a culture vessel configured to culture cells is placed thereon, a gas containing CO2 to the culture vessel; a gas supply unit configured to supply the gas containing CO2 to the ventilation adapter; and a gas holding space forming portion configured to airtightly hold the gas containing CO2 supplied from the gas supply unit when the culture vessel is placed at a predetermined position of the ventilation adapter, an upper portion of the gas holding space forming portion directly or indirectly supporting at least a part of a gas exchange membrane provided on a lower side of the culture vessel, and a lower end portion of the gas holding space forming portion coming into contact with at least a part of an upper surface of the ventilation adapter.