CO2 incubator purchase considerations

The CO2 incubator is one of the most commonly used routine instruments in the laboratory and is widely used in medicine, immunology, genetics, microbiology, agricultural science, IVF, cloning technology, pharmaceutical research and production.

When purchasing, you should consider all aspects. Points to note when purchasing CO2 incubators:

1. Temperature control: When purchasing a CO2 incubator, there are two types of heating structures to choose from: air jacket heating and water jacket 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). 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.

2. CO2 control: CO2 concentration detection can be measured by two control systems - infrared sensor (IR) or heat conduction sensor (TC). When the door of the CO2 incubator is opened, CO2 leaks out of the tank. At this point, the sensor detects a decrease in CO2 concentration and responds in a timely manner, re-injecting CO2 to its original preset level. The principle of thermal conductivity sensor (TC) monitoring CO2 concentration is achieved by measuring the change in resistance between two thermistors'> regulators (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.

3. Relative humidity control: It is very important to control the relative humidity in the incubator. Maintain sufficient humidity level to ensure that the culture will not fail due to 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.

4. Micro-Processing Control System: Every user wants the instrument to be easy to use, micro-processing control system and other various functional accessories (such as high-temperature automatic adjustment and alarm device, CO2 alarm device, password protection setting, automatic calibration) The use of the system, etc., 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. 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.

5. Control of Contaminants: Contamination is a major cause of cell culture failure. Therefore, manufacturers of CO2 incubators have designed a variety of different devices to reduce and prevent the occurrence of pollution. The main route is to minimize microbes. Areas and surfaces that can be grown, combined with automatic removal of contaminated devices to effectively prevent contamination. 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, the best, but the price will rise. 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.

6. 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 thorough understanding of the products you need can you choose your best partner. 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.