CO₂ Incubators

Tissue engineered products are biological medicinal products that contain or are composed of bioengineered cells or tissues. They are used to regenerate, restore, or replace human tissue. 
Tissue engineering involves taking cells from a person's body and allowing them to grow into larger cell structures in the laboratory in order to replace or regenerate diseased tissue such as skin, cartilage or bone.
 

In vitro fertilization (IVF) describes a method of artificial fertilization used in human reproductive medicine. This application aims to fuse an egg and sperm cell together in a petri dish along with a cell culture medium. 

The human embryos then start to fertilize and develop in a CO2 incubator, before being transplanted into the uterus after two to three days. Optimal conditions in the incubator chamber are approximately 37°C, 5 or 6 vol. % CO2, and humidity of around 95%.

Staff label the petri dishes very precisely to avoid mix-ups. The inner glass doors of the CO2 incubators mean the dishes can be monitored at all times too.

The process is similar in veterinary medicine, for example with cattle. The oocytes are put into a petri dish together with the sperm and, during an incubation period of 21 hours, the sperm fertilize them. On the eighth day after fertilization, the embryos are transferred from the CO2 incubator into the recipient animals.
 

The study of cell cultures plays a crucial role in the diagnostic analysis of pathogens. The results obtained from such investigations enable precise proof of hygiene levels to be formulated, and the degree of viral resistance to biopharmaceuticals to be evaluated. One method often used in this context is the swipe sample, where cell cultures which are susceptible to viruses are exposed to them in order to test their biological function.

CO2 incubators are the right tool for the various different process steps involved, such as thawing and transferring the cells, as well as infecting the cell lines and dyeing the cell cultures. During this application, conditions in the interior are usually set to 37°C and 5 vol. % CO2.

The samples are analyzed after 72 hours at the latest. The blue coloration of the cell layer makes it possible to characterize the plaques in more detail either with the naked eye or under a microscope.

BINDER CO2 incubators are particularly good for diagnostic purposes or virus identification, since they maintain extremely stable incubation conditions. The inner glass doors for segmented access help here too. What's more, the risks of cross-contamination and the silent spread of contamination are reliably eliminated at all times thanks to automatic hot-air sterilization at 180°C.
 

Biosensors comprise a biological detection element and a physical sensor (transducer) that are in direct contact with each other. The biological component can consist of an enzyme, an antibody, DNA, receptors, or entire cells and tissue sections. The interaction between the substance being tested and the biological component produces a biochemical signal which is converted into an electrical or optical signal by the transducer. Biosensors are generally categorized according to the physical measuring principle on which they are based – there are electrochemical sensors, optical sensors, and whole-cell biosensors.  Biosensors are used in fields such as medicine, food quality control, and environmental analysis.  One of the most well-known examples are the enzyme sensors used to measure glucose.

An impressive example: cardiomyocytes from embryonic hens were reaggregated in a rotation culture into spheroids (3D architecture) and connected to microelectrodes. Reference substances were used to test the extent to which statements could be made about applying a stimulus to a living system. The spheroids were produced in petri dishes in CO2 incubators at 37°C, 5 vol. % CO2, and 72 rpm and 20 mm orbit.

CO2 incubators play an important role in preparing samples and tests in all areas of cancer research such as drug research and the development of 3D invasions, assays, and biosensors – from a simple monolayer through to the reproduction of patient tumors by means of 3D cell culture models (drug research and development of treatments). 

In the fields of immunology and tumor biology (how malignant tumors develop), CO2 incubators are used at 37°C, 5 vol. % CO2, and 95% relative humidity under normoxic conditions, as well as CO2/O2 incubators at 37°C, 5 vol. % CO2, and hypoxic 1 vol. % O2, depending on the cell cultures involved.

In clinical research – for example, into oncogenes and tumor suppressors – CO2 incubators are used at 37°C and 5 vol. % CO2 under normoxic conditions.
 

A CO2 incubator is a gassed incubator that is used for in vitro cell cultivation.  Cell culture is the process by which living cells are cultivated and propagated outside of an organism under controlled conditions. Cell cultures often form the basis of clinical and biotechnological research. Inside a CO2 incubator, an atmosphere is created that is as natural as possible in order to facilitate cell growth. The temperature, humidity, and CO2 content must match the cell culture requirements precisely.

A CO2 incubator has an interior which is completely sealed off from the environment in order to create a defined atmosphere inside the unit. To enable laboratory technicians to still view the samples during the growth phase, most CO2 incubators feature a glass door as well as the regular door, which provides additional protection against contamination.

The interior is made of rust-resistant materials such as stainless steel and should have as few sharp edges and grooves as possible in order to avoid any places where contamination could be hidden. In the sensitive field of cell cultivation in particular, just one single germ can ruin weeks of work.

The incoming CO2 gas  flows through a sterile filter and must be distributed evenly throughout the whole interior, as the samples are usually positioned on shelves at different heights. The challenge lies in creating homogeneity through the entire interior, so as to ensure a uniform concentration of CO2 for all samples at constant temperature and humidity conditions.