Cell Culture Device Pressure Equalizing Unit
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Solution Overview
Problem
Cell culture devices face challenges in maintaining constant fluid flow rates and suppressing gas bubble formation due to pulsations from pumps, which can lead to cell death, especially when temperature changes affect the gas chamber's resilience and volume, making it difficult to maintain a compact and portable device.
Innovation Solution
A cell culture device with a pressure equalizing unit and a pressurization unit that includes a resilient membrane to stabilize fluid pressure and prevent gas bubble formation, featuring a fluid chamber with a flexible membrane that adjusts to pressure fluctuations and a rhombus shape to minimize bubble entry, along with a gas bubble removal part to ensure consistent flow rates.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If a high capacity syringe pump is used to deliver culture fluid over a long period, then the culture fluid delivery capacity is improved, but the device size increases and portability is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the mechanical syringe pump system with a tubing pump system that uses elastic deformation of the pump chamber and tubing to generate pumping action. This substitution allows for compact design while maintaining adequate fluid delivery capacity for cell culture applications.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent utilizes flexible membranes and elastic tubing as the core pumping mechanism. The pump chamber and delivery tubing are designed to elastically deform during operation, enabling compact pump design without requiring large mechanical components. The elastic properties of the materials provide the necessary pumping action in a miniaturized format.
2Volume of moving object
If a tubing pump is used to reduce device size, then portability is improved, but pulsations in fluid delivery become unavoidable and flow rate constancy deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a compliance chamber as an intermediary element between the tubing pump and the cell culture section. This chamber acts as a buffer that absorbs pulsations from the pump while maintaining steady flow to the culture section. The compliance chamber's elastic walls allow it to expand and contract, smoothing out flow variations without requiring complex active control systems.
3Stability of the object's composition
If a gas chamber is provided to absorb pump pulsations, then flow rate constancy is improved, but temperature changes cause volume fluctuation and gas bubble formation
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses a compliance chamber filled with culture fluid instead of a gas chamber. The chamber's elastic walls provide the necessary compliance to absorb pulsations, while the liquid-filled design eliminates gas bubble formation issues. The hydraulic compliance of the liquid-filled elastic chamber provides pulsation absorption without the harmful effects of gas expansion and contraction with temperature changes.
4Stability of the object's composition
If the gas chamber capacity is increased to maintain resilience against temperature changes, then flow rate stability is improved, but device size increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs an elastic compliance chamber with flexible walls that can expand and contract to provide flow stabilization. This flexible membrane design allows for adequate compliance volume in a compact form factor, eliminating the need for large gas chambers while maintaining flow stability against temperature variations and pump pulsations.
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 solution effectively suppresses pressure fluctuations and gas bubble occurrence, ensuring stable cell culture conditions by maintaining a constant flow rate and preventing cell death from air bubbles, allowing for compact and portable operation.
Implementation Method 1
a resilient membrane that configures a portion of a wall face of the pressurization portion, and that undergoes resilient deformation due to pressure of the culture fluid that has flowed into the pressurization portion
Implementation Method 2
a fluid delivery device that is provided at the flow path and is configured to pump the culture fluid from the storage section through the flow path to the cell culture section
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2A~2B
Figure 3
AI summary
To provide a cell culture device, a cell culture system and a cell culture method capable of suppressing fluctuations in pressure in a culture fluid, and suppressing gas bubbles from flowing into a cell culture section. A cell culture device including: a cell culture section (12) that cultures cells; a storage section (14) that stores a culture fluid; flow paths (24A) to (24F) that connect the cell culture section (12) and the storage section (14); a fluid delivery device (16) that is provided at the flow paths (24A) to (24F) and that delivers the culture fluid from the storage section (14) to the cell culture section (12); a pressure equalizing unit (18) that is provided at the flow paths (24A) to (24F) and that suppresses fluctuations in pressure imparted to the culture fluid delivered to the cell culture section (12); and a pressurization unit (22) that is provided at the flow path (24E) at a flow outlet side of the cell culture section (12) and that applies a specific pressure to the culture fluid.