Clamping Insert for Cell Culture Porous Substrates
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Solution Overview
Problem
The use of rigid porous substrates with silicon nitride membranes in cell culture inserts is hindered by their high cost and the need for a specific holder to achieve a tight seal, which existing solutions fail to provide, leading to incomplete compartment separation and incompatibility with conventional sealing methods.
Innovation Solution
A clamping insert system comprising a lower support with tightening means and an inner holder that securely holds a porous substrate, ensuring a hermetic seal and compatibility with microplates, allowing for efficient and reusable use of the substrate.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Length of moving object
If rigid porous substrates with silicon nitride membranes are used, then membrane thickness is reduced and transparency is improved, but cost increases and compatibility with conventional sealing methods deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The insert is divided into separate functional components: a holder for supporting the membrane, a sealing element for creating the hermetic seal, and a clamping mechanism for securing the assembly. This segmentation allows each component to be optimized independently - the membrane can be made thin and rigid while the sealing element provides conventional-compatible sealing functionality.
Solution Approach 2:
A sealing element acts as an intermediary component between the rigid porous substrate and the conventional microplate well. This intermediary provides the necessary hermetic seal using conventional sealing methods while allowing the thin rigid membrane to be properly supported and clamped in the holder.
2Manufacturing precision
If rigid porous substrates are used, then pore size control and reusability are improved, but device complexity increases due to specific holder requirements
Solution Approach 1:
The holder is designed to perform multiple functions: supporting the thin rigid membrane, providing a interface for the sealing element, enabling clamping within the microplate well, and facilitating easy removal and reusability. This multi-functionality reduces the need for additional separate components, thereby managing device complexity while maintaining precision.
Solution Approach 2:
The holder structure is optimized with specific dimensional parameters and geometric features that match the rigid porous substrate dimensions and the microplate well specifications. By carefully controlling these parameters, the holder achieves precise fit and secure clamping without requiring overly complex structures.
3Ease of manufacture
If conventional polymer microporous substrates are used, then ease of manufacture and cost are improved, but membrane thickness cannot be reduced and transparency is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The holder is designed to accommodate and support thin film structures like the rigid porous substrate. The holder's wall structure provides the necessary mechanical support for membranes that would otherwise be too thin to handle, enabling the use of ultra-thin rigid substrates while maintaining ease of manufacture through standard microplate well interfaces.
4Reliability
If tight seal is achieved with rigid porous substrates, then compartment separation is improved, but ease of operation deteriorates due to specific clamping requirements
Solution Approach 1:
The sealing element is nested within the holder structure, and the entire assembly is clamped together as a unified structure. This nested arrangement simplifies the clamping operation to a single step while ensuring reliable hermetic sealing, as the sealing element is already positioned and secured within the holder before final clamping.
Data Source
AI summary
A clamping insert for cell culture having a lower support with a hollow member engagable in a well of a microplate, the hollow member being open at both ends and including a support surface at one end, and first tightening elements. The clamping insert further having an inner holder sized to be fitted inside the hollow member, and second tightening elements arranged to cooperate with the first tightening elements of the hollow member to tighten reversibly between the inner holder and the support surface of the lower support a porous substrate. The inner holder further including an open channel keeping free the porous substrate. Retaining elements intended to cooperate with the well of the microplate are provided to allow the clamping insert to be suspended in the well, and sealing elements are provided to hermetically seal the contact area between the clamping insert and the porous substrate.