The purchaser of the carbon dioxide incubator is of course concerned with the reliability, the control of the contaminants and the ease of use of the carbon dioxide incubator. The CO2 incubator mainly controls three basic variables related to the simulation of the in vivo environment: stable CO2 levels, temperature, and relative humidity. In order to have a stable culture environment, we must consider the influencing factors of these three aspects. When purchasing, we should have a certain understanding of these "heavy weights" in order to choose the instrument that suits you. However, the "small" factors of other aspects cannot be ignored, because these will affect the use value and longevity of the instrument. When purchasing, you should consider all aspects.
temperature control:
Maintaining a constant temperature in the incubator is an important factor in maintaining healthy cell growth. When purchasing a CO2 incubator, there are two types of heating structures to choose from: air jacketed heating and water jacketed heating. Although both heating systems are accurate and reliable, they all have their own advantages and disadvantages. The water jacketed incubator maintains a constant temperature by enclosing the internal tank through a separate hot water compartment. The hot water circulates through the natural convection in the tank, and the heat is transferred to the inside of the tank through the radiation to maintain a constant temperature. The unique water jacket design has its advantages: water is a good thermal insulation material, and when it is powered off, the water jacket system can more reliably maintain the temperature accuracy and stability in the incubator for a long time ( The time to maintain a constant temperature is 4-5 times that of a gas-tight system). If your experimental environment is not stable (such as useful electrical restrictions, or frequent power outages) and you need to maintain stable culture conditions for a long time, then the water jacketed carbon dioxide incubator is a good choice. The gas-sleeve heating system directly heats the gas in the tank through a heater in the tank. The air-sleeve design can quickly restore the temperature stability inside the box under the condition that the temperature caused by frequent switching of the door is frequently changed. Therefore, compared with the water jacket type, the air jacket type has the characteristics of quick heating and rapid recovery of the temperature than the water jacket type incubator, and is particularly advantageous for short-term cultivation and cultivation requiring frequent switching of the door. In addition, the air-sleeve design is simpler for the user than the water jacket type (water jacket type requires watering, emptying and cleaning of the water tank, and often monitoring the operation of the water tank). When purchasing a gas-filled incubator, it should be noted that in order not to affect the culture, the incubator should also have a fan to ensure the circulation and circulation of air in the tank. This device also contributes to the temperature, CO2 and relative humidity inside the tank. Rapid recovery.
In addition, some types of carbon dioxide incubators also have an external door and an auxiliary heating system. This system can heat the inner door, provide a good humidity environment for the cells, ensure the cell osmotic pressure to maintain balance, and effectively prevent the formation of condensed water to maintain the incubator. Humidity and temperature inside. This auxiliary system is essential if your culture environment requires precise control.
CO2 control:
CO2 concentration detection can be measured by two control systems - an infrared sensor (IR) or a thermal conduction sensor (TC). When the door of the carbon dioxide incubator is opened, CO2 leaks out of the tank, and the sensor detects a decrease in CO2 concentration and responds in time to re-inject CO2 to its original preset level. The heat conduction sensor (TC) monitors the CO2 concentration by measuring the change in resistance between two thermistors (one regulator exposed to the cabinet environment and the other closed). A change in the concentration of CO2 in the tank changes the resistance between the two thermistors, thereby causing the sensor to react to achieve the effect of adjusting the level of CO2. One disadvantage of the TC control system is that changes in temperature and relative humidity within the chamber can affect the accuracy of the sensor. When the door is frequently opened, not only the CO2 concentration, temperature and relative humidity will fluctuate greatly, thus affecting the accuracy of the TC sensor. This control system is less suitable when precise culture conditions are required and the incubator door is frequently opened. The infrared sensor (IR) is another optional control system with more accurate CO2 control than the TC system. It uses an optical sensor to detect CO2 levels. The IR system includes an infrared emitter and a sensor. When the CO2 in the tank absorbs part of the infrared light emitted by the emitter, the sensor can detect the amount of infrared radiation, and the amount of absorbed infrared light corresponds to the level of CO2 in the tank. Thus, the concentration of CO2 in the tank can be obtained. Because the IR system is not affected by changes in temperature and relative humidity, it is more accurate than the TC system and is especially suitable for cell cultures that require frequent opening of the incubator door. However, this system is more expensive than the TC system, and it is necessary to consider the budget.
Relative humidity control:
The control of the relative humidity in the incubator is very important, maintaining a sufficient level of humidity to ensure that the culture fails without excessive drying. Large carbon dioxide incubators use steam generators or sprayers to control relative humidity levels, while most medium and small incubators generate moisture through the evaporation of humidity control panels (the relative humidity levels produced by them) Up to 95-98%). Some incubators have a humidity reservoir that maintains moisture on a heated control panel, which enhances evaporation, which increases the relative humidity level by 97-98%. However, this system is also more complicated, and some unpredictable problems will arise during use due to the increase of complex structures.
Microprocessor control system:
Every user wants the instrument to be easy to use, the microprocessor control system and other various functional accessories (such as high temperature auto-tuning and alarm devices, CO2 alarm devices, password protection settings, automatic calibration systems, etc.) It makes the operation and control of the carbon dioxide incubator very simple. The microprocessing control system is an operating system that maintains the steady state temperature, humidity, and CO2 concentration in the incubator. For example, the PIC microprocessor control system can strictly control the concentration of gas and reduce its loss to an extremely low level to ensure a constant culture environment, and to ensure accurate temperature inside the chamber during long-term cultivation, and LED display. Temperature and CO2 concentration can be set and corrected. Although the names of different microprocessor systems are different, the principle and control effect are not different. You don't have to care too much about the difference between their names when purchasing. The key is to make it easy to use, easy to operate, and to be able to achieve The required control accuracy.
In addition, I think an alarm system is also indispensable. It allows you to know the situation of the incubator in time and react, so that Zui greatly reduces the loss and ensures the continuity of the experiment. Some incubators have an acoustic/light alarm device. When the temperature changes by ±0.5°C, or the CO2 concentration changes by ±5%, it will automatically alarm; some have the CO2 concentration abnormal alarm display function. These devices are designed to be user-friendly and reduce the tedious and tedious experimental process.
Control of pollutants:
Contamination is a major contributor to cell culture failure. As a result, manufacturers of carbon dioxide incubators have designed a variety of different devices to reduce and prevent contamination, primarily by minimizing areas and surfaces where microbes can grow. And combined with the automatic elimination of pollution devices to effectively prevent the occurrence of pollution. For example, in view of the fact that the CO2 incubator is sometimes accompanied by mold growth during use, some companies have developed an enhanced CO2 incubator with UV cleaning to ensure the incubator is protected from contamination and to ensure biocleanability in the instrument case. The company's unique copper shell HEPA filter can filter the air in the incubator, can remove 99.97% of the particles above 0.3um, and can effectively kill the microbe particles that are blocked in the filter during filtration; in addition, automatic sterilization The device enables the temperature inside the chamber to reach 90 ° C to kill contaminating microorganisms, and when used in combination with the HEPA system, it can greatly reduce pollution. These devices are essential for cell culture, but which cleaning device is chosen? Of course, the more functions, the better, but the price will increase. If the funds are limited, you can only choose one that is cheaper. At this time, you should use some disinfectants and disinfectants. It is often disinfected and sterilized. It can also achieve the effect of your instrument, but it is more troublesome. In short, no matter what kind of device is selected, always pay attention to keep the incubator clean and clean the box frequently, so as to increase the service life of the instrument and make the experiment go smoothly to ensure the reliability of the result.
Other factors:
The control range and control accuracy and uniformity of each type of carbon dioxide incubator temperature, humidity and CO2 concentration are different. At this point, before purchasing the instrument, you must have a certain understanding of the requirements of your laboratory: How much control is it? Control accuracy requirements are very accurate, or can there be a certain range of floating? Because sometimes too high precision does not seem to make much sense. Only by having a comprehensive understanding of the products you need can you choose your own "good partner". The Bio-Tung Long Tiger List provides you with some specific parameters of the company's carbon dioxide incubator, from which you can get a specific comparison and analysis, maybe there will be your favorite instrument.
The volume of the incubator is also a factor that cannot be ignored. It is not enough to buy small, and it is wasteful and takes up space. The optional volume of CO2 incubators is very wide, including small (<40 litres), medium and large (>700 litres), and each type has a different volume. At this point, you need to have a more accurate understanding of the range of required incubator volume before purchase, and reserve a little space on this basis to ensure that it is needed.
In addition, some CO2 incubators have many special features, such as the Thermogard fan management system, which enables intelligent adjustment of the air volume; there is a single-channel circulation system to ensure the uniformity of the internal temperature of the incubator, while also reducing pollution. ; LCD (liquid crystal) display system, silicone temperature sensor to measure temperature and so on. These various accessory devices are chosen to facilitate the selection and use of the purchaser.
Anticorrosion Pigments, Inkjet Receptive Coating, Matting Agent
Guangzhou Quanxu Technology Co Ltd
