Microplate Intermediate Plate Convex Portions Lid Design
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional cell culture vessels for microscopes face issues with contamination and pH changes when adding or removing reagents, as the lid immersion into the culture medium leads to medium adherence and potential mixing with adjacent wells, and simple openings fail to prevent bacterial infection.
Innovation Solution
A culturing device featuring a microplate with light-transmittant vessels and a lid, along with an intermediate plate having convex portions and through holes, allows for observation and reagent access without removing the lid, reducing contamination risks and preventing bacterial infection by maintaining a clear optical path and minimizing dew condensation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If the lid is removed to add reagent or extract culture medium, then reagent addition and medium extraction can be performed, but the culture medium adheres to the lid and contamination risk increases
Solution Approach 1:
The lid is divided into a main body portion and a separate recessed portion that can be selectively removed. This allows the recessed portion to be detached for reagent addition while the main body remains in place to maintain the sealed environment and prevent contamination of adjacent wells.
Solution Approach 2:
The recessed portion of the lid is extracted as a separate removable component. This enables targeted access to specific wells for reagent addition or medium extraction without removing the entire lid, thereby maintaining the sealed environment and preventing culture medium adhesion to the lid.
2Ease of operation
If the lid is simply opened to eliminate removal operation, then reagent addition becomes easier, but bacterial infection cannot be prevented
Solution Approach 1:
The lid is segmented into a main body portion that remains sealed to prevent bacterial infection and a removable recessed portion that provides access for reagent addition. This segmentation allows simultaneous achievement of ease of operation and contamination prevention.
3Measurement precision
If the recessed portion of the lid is immersed into the culture medium, then observation can be performed, but the culture medium adheres to the lid
Solution Approach 1:
The recessed portion is extracted as a removable component that can be detached after observation. This allows the recessed portion to be temporarily immersed for observation purposes while preventing permanent adhesion of culture medium, as it can be easily removed and cleaned.
Data Source
Figure 1(a)~1(c)
Figure 2
Figure 3
AI summary
A culturing device includes a microplate including a plurality of vessels, each of the vessels having a bottom surface having light transmittance and having an opening at an upper portion, a lid having light transmittance and covering an upper surface of the microplate, and an intermediate plate having light transmittance and being sandwiched between the lid and the microplate, the intermediate plate having a plurality of convex portions on a surface of the intermediate plate facing the microplate, provided with a plurality of through holes corresponding to the convex portions. The plurality of convex portions and the plurality of through holes are disposed so that when the intermediate plate and the microplate are overlapped, each of the plurality of convex portions is inserted into each of the plurality of vessels and each of the plurality of through holes coincides with the opening of each of the plurality of vessels. The lid comes into contact with the intermediate plate so as to close the plurality of through holes provided in the intermediate plate.