Cell Culture Apparatus With Movable Division Wall
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current cell culture systems face challenges in efficiently changing culture media during long-term cell culture, particularly for floating cells, as existing methods require complex procedures like centrifugation, which increase contamination risks and operator workload.
Innovation Solution
A cell culture apparatus with a culture tank featuring a division wall that can separate into upper and lower spaces, allowing for easy medium change by expanding and contracting an opening to facilitate communication between spaces, enabling the separation and replacement of culture media without centrifugation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If culture media is changed in closed systems during cell culture, then contamination is decreased, but the change of culture media becomes very difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The culture tank is divided into an upper space and a lower space by a division wall. The division wall includes a movable partition that can be positioned to separate the upper space from the lower space, enabling independent access to each space for culture media replacement while maintaining a closed system for contamination control.
Solution Approach 2:
The division wall incorporates a movable partition that can dynamically change position between a first position (separating upper and lower spaces) and a second position (allowing communication between spaces). This dynamic structure enables easy culture media replacement while maintaining system closure.
2Ease of operation
If centrifugation is used to separate culture media and floating cells, then culture media can be changed, but contamination risk and operator workload increase
Solution Approach 1:
The division wall separates the culture tank into upper and lower spaces, allowing culture media to be drained from the lower space while floating cells remain in the upper space. This physical segmentation eliminates the need for centrifugation and reduces contamination risk by avoiding open system operations.
Solution Approach 2:
The movable partition acts as an intermediary structure that enables separation of culture media and cells without requiring external centrifugation equipment or opening the system, thereby reducing contamination risk while maintaining ease of operation.
3Productivity
If floating cells are cultured for long periods, then productivity increases, but culture media degrades requiring regular changes
Solution Approach 1:
The culture tank is segmented into upper and lower spaces by the division wall with movable partition. This allows the lower space to be drained and refilled with fresh culture media while the upper space maintains the floating cells, enabling repeated culture media changes without disturbing the cell culture and thus supporting long-term productivity.
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 simplifies the process of changing culture media, reduces contamination risks, and allows for efficient separation of floating cells and media, thereby extending the viability of the culture system by minimizing medium degradation.
Implementation Method 1
a division wall that divides an internal space of the culture tank in a direction of gravity into an upper space and a lower space
Data Source
AI summary
A cell culture apparatus includes a culture tank having an inlet and an outlet, a culture-medium supplying unit that supplies a culture medium to the culture tank through the inlet, and a culture-medium discharging unit that discharges the culture medium through the outlet. The culture tank includes a division wall that can divide the internal space in a direction of gravity into an upper space and a lower space. The outlet opens into the upper space, and the division wall enables switching between a state where the internal space of the culture tank is divided into the upper space and the lower space and a state where the upper space and the lower space are in communication with each other.