Designs of improved canisters for animal semen straw storage in Dewars with cryogenic liquid are described. In some embodiments, the canisters include a layer of cryogen-absorbent material and an inner layer of thermally conductive material including apertures oriented and positioned to direct cryogen vapor into the interior of the container.

The bag comprises two flexible sheets (11) attached to each other by a weld area delimiting a pouch having a predefined volume when said bag is filled, said pouch being designed to contain a dose (27) of said diluted animal semen having said predefined volume. The surface (30) of each of said flexible sheets (11) faces said pouch (14) which is part of a layer (35) of weldable thermoplastic material. For one or preferably for each of said sheets (11), said layer of weldable thermoplastic material (35) comprises triclosan; and the ratio between said predefined volume of said pouch and the sum of the areas of the surfaces (30) of said sheets (11) facing said pouch is between 0.3 ml/cm.sup.2 and 0.5 ml/cm.sup.2. The system comprises such bags and an antibiotic-free dilution medium.

A semen container fitted with a specialized tip includes a substantially hollow body having a sealable first end adapted for the introduction of biological fluids such as semen and a second end having a nozzle molded thereto. The nozzle terminates in a removable tip that is anchored to the container by way of a tab such that after dispensing the biological liquid from the container the tip and the container may be disposed of simultaneously thereby reducing or eliminating the need to separately collect the removed tips from the ground.

The present invention relates to a container bag (1) for containing semen for artificial insemination of animals, of the types which are formed by at least two sheets (2.1, 2.2) of sealed thermoplastic material, forming a tubular body (3) with an inner hollow (4) divided by means of a central constriction (5) into first and second contiguous enclosures (7.1, 7.2) communicated by means of a cannula (6) secured in said constriction (5), which bag comprises a closure plug (10) for closing said cannula (6) secured to the bottom (13) of the second enclosure (7.2) of the inner hollow (4), means for securing the cannula (6) to the central constriction (5), and means for securing the closure plug (10) to the bottom (13) of the second enclosure (7.2).

Disclosed is an approach to differentiating between different particle types in samples flowing through microfluidics chips. A sample may have an initial proportion of a first cell type to a second cell type. An illuminating light source may emit a coherent light at the sample, and light leaving the chip in a first direction may be detected using a first light detector, and light leaving the chip in a second direction (e.g., orthogonal to the first direction) may be detected using a second light detector. The detected light may be fluorescence. An orientational feature of a plurality of cells in the sample may be determined based on the light detected by the detectors. Based on the orientational features and the detected light, a biasing operation may be performed for each cell in the sample to obtain a modified proportion of cell types in the sample.

Disclosed is an approach to differentiating between different particle types in samples flowing through microfluidics chips. A sample may have an initial proportion of a first cell type to a second cell type. An illuminating light source may emit a coherent light at the sample, and light leaving the chip in a first direction may be detected using a first light detector, and light leaving the chip in a second direction (e.g., orthogonal to the first direction) may be detected using a second light detector. The detected light may be fluorescence. An orientational feature of a plurality of cells in the sample may be determined based on the light detected by the detectors. Based on the orientational features and the detected light, a biasing operation may be performed for each cell in the sample to obtain a modified proportion of cell types in the sample.

Intravaginal culture (IVC) container for intravaginal fertilization and culture of mammalian, and in particular human, oocytes, featuring an increased volume, and a method of using the same.