Trap Bottle Prevents Filter Clogging in Cell Culture Vessels
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Solution Overview
Problem
The existing automatic cell culture systems face challenges in maintaining normal internal pressures of culture vessels due to clogging issues with air communication filters, which can lead to unstable liquid or gas flow, especially when using fewer tubes to reduce component costs and facilitate parallel processing of multiple vessels.
Innovation Solution
The system employs a trap bottle to collect and condense remaining liquid culture medium, separating it from the gaseous phase, preventing water vapor from reaching the air communication filter and thus avoiding filter clogging, and uses the liquid sending tube as a ventilation tube to maintain atmospheric pressure within the culture vessels.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Device complexity
If a fewer number of tubes is used to reduce component costs and facilitate parallel processing, then device complexity and cost are reduced, but air communication filters may become clogged leading to unstable internal pressure and flow
Solution Approach 1:
The liquid sending tube is designed to serve dual functions: sending liquid culture medium to the culture vessel and acting as a ventilation tube for gas exchange. This multi-functionality reduces the total number of tubes needed while maintaining reliable internal pressure through the air communication filter, as the ventilation function is integrated into the existing liquid sending pathway rather than requiring a separate tube.
2Device complexity
If the liquid sending tube is used as a ventilation tube, then the number of tubes is reduced, but remaining liquid culture medium may reach the air communication filter and cause clogging
Solution Approach 1:
A gas sending operation is performed before liquid sending to pre-move the air communication filter and establish gas flow through the ventilation pathway. This preliminary action ensures that during subsequent liquid sending, the liquid culture medium flows along the established gas pathway without causing filter clogging, while still utilizing the same tube for both functions.
Solution Approach 2:
The system maintains continuous gas flow through the liquid sending tube during liquid culture medium sending operations. This continuous gas flow prevents liquid culture medium from accumulating and reaching the air communication filter, ensuring uninterrupted dual functionality of the tube for both ventilation and liquid transport without causing filter clogging.
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
This configuration effectively prevents filter clogging and maintains stable internal pressures in the culture vessels, ensuring reproducible and efficient cell culture processes, even when using fewer tubes, thereby supporting the parallel processing of multiple vessels.
Implementation Method 1
The system employs a trap bottle to collect and condense remaining liquid culture medium, separating it from the gaseous phase
Data Source
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AI summary
Maintaining pressure in the interior of a culturing vessel is difficult when minimizing the size of a liquid supply path in a means that supplies liquid and gas to a cell culturing vessel that performs two-level culturing (co-culturing). This cell culturing device (31) includes: culturing vessels (55, 57); a flow path having at least first supply ports (56, 77) capable of supplying liquid or gas to inside the culturing vessels and first discharge ports that discharge the gas inside the culturing vessels, said flow path discharging, to the atmosphere, gas discharged from the first discharge ports; and a filter (52) provided upon the flow path. A trap bottle (105) that collects moisture from the discharged gas is provided between the first discharge ports (63, 65) and the filter (52) upon the flow path. Thus, a liquid phase and a gas phase are separated inside the trap bottle and, as a result, moisture is prevented from reaching the filter, filter clogging is prevented, and the internal pressure of the culturing vessels can be maintained.