Sensor Cell State Estimation in Cloudy Culture Media
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing systems struggle to accurately determine the state of cells cultured in a cloudy culture medium due to the obscuring effect, making precise observation and measurement challenging.
Innovation Solution
A cell state estimation system that utilizes a second cell, or sensor cell, to indirectly assess the state of a first cell by measuring shared culture medium properties and appearance information, employing a camera and analysis device to estimate the state of the first cell based on the sensor cell's conditions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If cells are cultured in a cloudy culture medium, then the growth environment is provided, but the cells cannot be clearly imaged
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a sensor cell as an intermediary organism that shares the same culture medium as the target cell. The sensor cell serves as a mediator to indirectly detect the culture medium's state and infer the target cell's condition, bypassing the imaging obstruction caused by the cloudy medium while maintaining reliable state determination
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates a copy of the target cell's growth environment by using a sensor cell cultured in the same or shared culture medium. By measuring the sensor cell's response and the medium's properties, the system obtains information that copies the target cell's state without directly imaging the target cell through the obstructive medium
2Measurement precision
If direct imaging of cells is performed, then cell state can be observed, but the culture medium becomes contaminated
Solution Approach 1:
The sensor cell acts as an intermediary that can be measured without contaminating the target cell's culture medium. By culturing the sensor cell in a separate but shared medium system, the patent enables precise measurements of medium properties and cell state indirectly, avoiding direct contact and contamination of the target culture
Solution Approach 2:
The patent segments the cell culture system into a target cell component and a sensor cell component. The sensor cell is cultured in a separate container or compartment that shares the culture medium through controlled connections, allowing independent measurement and analysis without cross-contamination between target and sensor cells
Data Source
AI summary
The cell state estimation system includes an appearance information acquisition portion acquiring appearance information of a second cell different from a first cell to be cultured, in which at least a part of a culture medium providing a growth environment to the first cell provides a growth environment to the second cell; a physical property measurement portion measuring at least one physical property of at least one of the culture medium that has provided a growth environment of the second cell and the second cell; and an estimation reference information portion storing estimation reference information referred to for estimating a state of at least one of the first cell and the culture medium, in which the estimation of the state of at least one is based on at least one of a result acquired by the appearance information acquisition portion and a result measured by the physical property measurement portion.