Fluid Circuit Guide Portions for Cell Culture Contamination Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing cell culture devices face issues with contamination and cost inefficiencies due to tube misconnection, leakage, and unnecessary fluid use, as well as contamination risks when reusing components with adhered culture solutions or cell secretions.
Innovation Solution
A fluid circuit device with a block featuring guide portions for attaching and detaching pipes, allowing segregation of contaminated pipes to prevent block contamination, and enabling modular sub-blocks and tubes for easy replacement and reuse, reducing costs and contamination risks.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If tubes are connected to respective portions of constituent elements of a circulation device, then fluid circulation is enabled, but tube misconnection, leakage, and unnecessary fluid use occur
Solution Approach 1:
The block is divided into multiple guide portions, each dedicated to guiding a specific tube to its correct connection point. This segmentation of the guidance function ensures that each tube has its own designated path, preventing misconnection and leakage while enabling easy operation.
Solution Approach 2:
Guide portions act as intermediary structures between tube connection destinations and tubes themselves. These guide portions provide physical guidance and constraint, serving as a mediator that ensures accurate tube connection without requiring complex alignment procedures.
2Productivity
If tubes are used to connect circulation device components, then fluid circulation is achieved, but tube contamination and block contamination occur
Solution Approach 1:
The tube is extracted as a separate, replaceable component from the block structure. By making the tube detachable while maintaining fixed guide portions in the block, the design allows contaminated tubes to be removed and replaced without affecting the block, enabling productivity through block reuse while managing contamination through tube replacement.
Solution Approach 2:
The tube is designed as a disposable or easily replaceable component that can be discarded after contamination, while the expensive block is preserved for reuse. This asymmetric replacement strategy optimizes cost-effectiveness by replacing only the necessary component.
3Adaptability or versatility
If flow channels are formed in holding member and lid member, then cell culture is enabled, but contamination occurs when reusing members
Solution Approach 1:
The system is segmented into reusable blocks with guide portions and replaceable tubes. This segmentation allows the block structure to be reused multiple times while only the contaminated tubes need replacement, achieving adaptability through reuse while preventing contamination spread.
4Adaptability or versatility
If tubes are excessively long to reach all connection points, then connection flexibility is improved, but unnecessary fluid use and leakage occur
Solution Approach 1:
The guide portions are pre-formed in the block structure during manufacturing, establishing fixed connection paths before tube installation. This preliminary action defines the exact tube routing needed, allowing connection flexibility without requiring excessively long tubes, thereby reducing fluid loss.
Data Source
AI summary
This fluid circuit device includes a block that has a guide portion in which a pipe allowing a fluid sent from a pump to circulate therein is attachable and detachable. The guide portion includes at least one of a recessed portion that guides the pipe along a surface of the block, and a hole portion that guides the pipe through the inside of the block.