Culture Dish Spacers and Distancing Elements for Slide Handling
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Solution Overview
Problem
The preparation of microscopic mounts of adherent cell lines on culture glass slides is hindered by the risk of damaging the slides during manipulation and the potential for overlapping, which leads to image blurring and distortion due to the high height of protuberances in existing culture dishes.
Innovation Solution
A culture dish with spacers and distancing elements on its bottom, designed to maintain the slides in a defined position and prevent adhesion, allowing for safe handling and unhindered observation under a microscope, featuring spacers of 0.5 mm to 5 mm height and distancing elements of 0.05 mm to 0.5 mm height, ensuring smooth manipulation and optimal optical properties.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If protuberances of height 1-5 mm are used to prevent adhesion of coverslips, then adhesion prevention is improved, but image quality deteriorates due to blurring and distortion
Solution Approach 1:
The bottom structure is segmented into two distinct functional elements: spacers (height 1-5 mm) for adhesion prevention and distancing elements (height 0.05-0.5 mm) for optical quality. This segmentation allows each element to optimize its specific function without compromising the other.
Solution Approach 2:
Different regions of the bottom surface are assigned different heights and functions: spacers provide high relief for mechanical support and adhesion prevention, while distancing elements provide low relief for optical clarity. Each local region is optimized for its specific purpose.
2Ease of operation
If culture glass slides are manipulated manually, then ease of operation is reduced, but device complexity is minimized
Solution Approach 1:
The culture dish bottom structure provides self-service functionality through its built-in spacers and distancing elements that automatically maintain slide position and prevent adhesion, eliminating the need for complex external manipulation tools or procedures.
Solution Approach 2:
The spacers and distancing elements are pre-positioned on the bottom surface before slide insertion, creating a prepared framework that guides slide placement and maintains optimal positioning throughout the experiment, preventing overlapping and adhesion issues before they occur.
3Manufacturing precision
If distancing elements of height 0.05-0.5 mm are used, then optical properties are improved, but adhesion prevention capability is reduced compared to higher structures
Solution Approach 1:
The bottom structure is segmented into two distinct functional elements: spacers (height 1-5 mm) for adhesion prevention and distancing elements (height 0.05-0.5 mm) for optical quality. This segmentation allows each element to optimize its specific function without compromising the other.
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 prevents accidental sliding and adhesion of culture glass slides, enabling easy removal without damage and maintaining clear, undistorted microscopic images during the preparation of adherent cell line mounts.
Implementation Method 1
The distancing elements prevent adhesion of the thin culture glass slides to the bottom of the culture dish due to capillary forces
Data Source
Figure 1(A)~1(C)
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AI summary
The present invention provides a culture dish for the preparation of adherent cell line mounts on culture glass slides, wherein the bottom of said culture dish is provided with at least two spacers for maintaining the culture glass slides within a pre-defined space and with at least six distancing elements for preventing adhesion of the culture glass slides to the culture dish bottom due to capillary forces, said distancing elements having the height in the range of from 0.05 to 0.5 mm. The culture dish of the invention prevents the adhesion of the culture glass slides and allows smooth manipulation with the culture glass slides, while providing for the desired optical properties of the whole system allowing an unhindered observation of the adhered cells during the process of the preparation of the adherent cell line mounts.