Corneal Graft Transport Incubator with pH Buffer Gas Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for storing corneal grafts face challenges such as external contamination, tissue damage from manipulation, and failure to maintain optimal storage conditions during transportation, leading to potential deterioration and increased costs for quality control.
Innovation Solution
A device with a chamber for continuous renewal of the storage medium, equipped with means to adjust physicochemical parameters like pH through buffer gas circulation, and a transportable unitary casing for maintaining optimal storage conditions during transport, allowing for real-time monitoring and adjustment of parameters.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If corneal grafts are stored in vials with storage medium and transported at ambient temperature, then transportation is simple, but the storage conditions deteriorate and biological quality is compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a transportable incubator as an intermediary device between the storage environment and the external transport conditions. This incubator maintains optimal temperature and pH conditions during transportation, acting as a mediator that protects the corneal graft from adverse external conditions while allowing mobile transport.
Solution Approach 2:
The system dynamically adjusts and maintains critical parameters (temperature and pH) within optimal ranges during transport. The incubator monitors and regulates these parameters to prevent deterioration, transforming the unstable ambient transport conditions into a controlled storage environment.
2Measurement precision
If quality control is performed by removing vials one by one from the incubator for microscopic examination, then individual cornea quality can be assessed, but considerable time is lost and cost increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent enables optical copying and imaging of the corneas through the transparent walls of the incubator chambers. Multiple corneas can be imaged and analyzed simultaneously without physical removal, creating visual copies for quality assessment that eliminate the time-consuming manual handling and sequential examination process.
Solution Approach 2:
The system combines multiple quality control functions (temperature monitoring, pH control, optical imaging, and cell counting) into a single integrated incubator unit. This allows simultaneous assessment of multiple corneas under controlled conditions, merging what were previously separate sequential operations into a parallel integrated process.
3Measurement precision
If manual manipulation is performed for cell counting (transfer to Petri dishes, staining, rinsing), then living cell counts can be obtained, but external contamination and endothelium damage risk increase
Solution Approach 1:
The transparent incubator chamber acts as an intermediary that allows non-contact optical observation and imaging of the corneas. This eliminates the need for physical manipulation and transfer to Petri dishes, thereby preventing external contamination and endothelium damage while still enabling accurate cell counting through optical methods.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces mechanical manipulation methods (physical transfer, manual staining, manual rinsing) with optical and automated systems. Cell counting is performed through optical imaging and image analysis, substituting the mechanical handling process with a non-contact optical measurement system that eliminates contamination and damage risks.
4Quantity of substance
If multiple corneas are stored simultaneously in separate vials in an incubator, then storage capacity is increased, but manipulation complexity and contamination risk increase during quality control
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple individual storage vessels into a single integrated transparent incubator unit that can accommodate multiple corneas simultaneously. This unified structure allows all corneas to be observed, imaged, and analyzed through the transparent walls without individual removal, simplifying the quality control process while maintaining high storage capacity.
Solution Approach 2:
The incubator chamber serves multiple functions simultaneously: it stores multiple corneas, maintains optimal environmental conditions (temperature and pH), enables optical imaging of all corneas, and allows non-contact quality assessment. This multi-functionality reduces the complexity that would otherwise arise from handling multiple separate systems.
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 ensures the corneal graft is stored under optimal conditions for up to 5 weeks, reduces the risk of contamination, and allows for efficient quality control, maintaining tissue quality and reducing costs by minimizing handling and ensuring consistent storage conditions.
Implementation Method 1
means for adjusting at least one physicochemical parameter of said medium, including its pH, by continuous circulation of a buffer gas in said at least one chamber outside of and in contact with said medium
Implementation Method 2
The device additionally comprises a circulation unit for circulating said storage medium and said buffer gas in said chamber
Data Source
AI summary
Disclosed is a device and a method for storing and transporting at least one human or animal tissue with a view to transplantation or ex vivo experimentation. The device can store such tissue in a specific storage medium until the transplantation or the ex vivo experimentation, and in particular to storing a sample of human or animal cornea, such as a corneal graft. This device for storing at least one human or animal tissue comprises at least one chamber which is suitable for receiving and storing the tissue in a liquid storage medium and which comprises means for continuous renewal of the medium in said at least one chamber. The device additionally comprises means for adjusting at least one physicochemical parameter of said medium, including its pH, by continuous circulation of a buffer gas in said at least one chamber outside of and in contact with said medium.